One Long Night
by Carlos Valentine
Summary: Thirteen members of the renegade group, Resistence, have been captured by Umbrella. Without warning, they are sent to an TestIsland to die. The Island is crawling with viral infected mutations of what things once were. They must survive the night. RR!
1. Where are we?

Chapter One: Where are we?  
  
The helicopter roared loudly as it took off. I looked around at my fellow prisoners, and finally realized all that was happening. I had been part of the resistance, along with most of the people here. They were wearing their regular, dirty street clothes, with bloodstains. I glanced up again, and I watched the helicopter zoom off into my only salvation.  
  
"Those bastards!" shouted a man in a long, black trench coat. Everyone nodded with tears. Some of the women burst out crying. If I could speak, I'd try to ease their sorrow. Yet, we are going to die. I know none of us will survive the night. I could only wonder, "How long will I make it?"  
  
Death no longer scared me like it once had. "We have to get out of here… now! I am not going to just stand here and let what ever it is on this island to just kill me." I opened my mouth, and tried for a sound, but I knew I was mute, and I knew I couldn't make a peep.  
  
I abruptly shut my mouth, seeing the man in the trench coat speak aloud again, "I think we should go… the sun is going down." A weeping women burst into an even louder fit of hysterics. Her eyes, nose, and mouth leaked with fluids, and she screamed. I looked at her with compassionate eyes. She looked up at me, and choked back on her tears. I tried to smile, but I don't think it was very successful.  
  
Her red face matched her shoulder length red hair and freckles. She bellowed quietly, "I don't want to leave this spot. I want to go home." She looked about seventeen, which was my age as well. The black trench coat man shouted at her, "We must leave! If we don't, we surely will die before nightfall. You know what those Umbrella freaks are capable of creating. The can wipe us all out, unless we find a way out. We are going to live!" He shouted with confidence. Even I was moved, but only for a brief second.  
  
I looked around and my surroundings finally came into view. We were on top of a building, in what looked like a demolished city. A man ran to the edge of a building and threw up. I understood what he was going through, but this is nothing compared to what I've endured.  
  
I sat down and clutched my knees as I started rocking back and forth. I remembered my high school being raided, being locked in a room, and being interrogated for weeks. They didn't even let me leave the small room to take a piss. They just asked me questions constantly, not knowing I couldn't speak. Now, standing on top of a building waiting to die is now what all of it came down to.  
  
"I don't want to be like one of them… I don't want to be here when anyone else becomes one, either," one man hollered and cried out. He took some steps toward the edge and leaned back on his heels. The sound of his flapping clothes filled our ears with suspense. One man roared a "no!" and ran over towards the edge to look. I loud smash rumbled my body slightly, and I couldn't help but agree with the now dead man.  
  
Should I jump? I won't go through the horror or the pain of being attacked by the walking corpses. People ran to the edge, and for a second, I thought they were going to jump, too. The people seemed to mourn for a second, then walk back over. We knew what must be done… we all knew we had to leave this fucking rooftop and get off this island.  
  
At that very moment another helicopter whizzed by, and hovered above us. "This can't be possible," I thought to myself. An enormous wooden box dropped down from the helicopter, and dropped on the center of the roof. I looked at it, then back up at the second helicopter that night to abandon us into the horizon. "No! Please help us!" the crying redhead shouted, even though she knew nothing would happen.  
  
The man in the trench coat said for all of us to hear, "Screw it. I'm going to open this crate. Hey big guy," he signaled to me, "Give me a hand, will you?" I stood up and clutched on edge of the box. I tugged as hard as I could on one side, and with one swift yank; the side of the box was off. People looked at my shocked expression, and then looked into the box. The light from the setting sun gave it an eerie glow.  
  
The walls of guns and ammo that filled the box made my eyes twinkle. The rifles, Berettas, shotguns, snipers, and magnums made me draw closer. I saw my gun! The magnum with the words Take 'em down carved into the handle. I reached for it and checked to see how many bullets I had that were already loaded. I saw there wasn't one, and I reached in for a clip.  
  
In seconds, everyone around grabbed their guns, that had been confiscated by Umbrella. It made me wonder if everyone here was part of the Resistance. They all looked strong, and to answer my thoughts, the red headed woman said, "Are you all part of the Resistance, too?" I nodded, and noticed everyone around me had nodded as well. A team of Resistance prisoners were dropped onto an island by Umbrella to die, and I was with them….  
  
Something caught the man with the trench coat's eye. He bent down and picked up a half crumpled piece of paper inside the box. He flattened it out as best as he could, and we were silent. Our guns and clips hung heavily from our pockets. The man began to read out loud:  
  
"Dear Resistance fools, you are on a test island in the Caribbean. It is covered with tiny cameras that record your every move. There is a chance that you survive, but you must go through our newest experiments. Your guns we took earlier should be ready for any sudden bumps in the night. If you survive, we shall grant you freedom, but that won't happen. I shall enclose this letter with a map of the island and the escape pad. I'll see you soon, or I won't… Signed, Michael Birkin."  
  
Some people shook their heads in disbelief; I shut my eyes and pressed them down tightly. "Okay. That's it," the man in the trench coat said. He chuckled insanely for a second. The crumpled the note and tossed it over the side of the building shouting, "Those sick fucks." Someone vomited, but I hadn't seen them. I heard the gag sound, then the rushing sound of bile.  
  
The man in the trench coat spoke again, "My name is Richard Perkin." Everyone looked at him, I even found myself starring. He said something else, but it was incoherent and I couldn't hear it. A man in a red vest said, "I'm Andy Carn." Everyone seemed to mumble his or her names. I caught a few, but not all. Richard smirked a bit and looked at me. "What about you? You got a name, right." I nodded, and opened my mouth, then closed it. My expressions drained from my face. How do I tell them I can't talk?  
  
I never really associated with anyone in my life. I just found myself raging a one-man war against Umbrella, and now it has come down to this. The woman with the red hair (I had caught her name, it was Sarah Mick.) walked to me, and said out loud, "I don't think he can talk." I nodded violently, trying to tell her she was right. She continued by saying, "At least we know he's not deaf." She stepped away and checked her ammo again. Richard's trench coat waved in a gust of wind. He muttered, "Now… let's get off this damn island!" He grabbed the map, and set off towards the other end of the rooftop. He found a door, and turned the knob. It opened itself to a staircase.  
  
"Well, come on!" he shouted as the doors hinges creaked. We jogged over, making sure our guns were ready. "Your guns we took earlier should be ready for any sudden bumps in the night." Those words repeated in my mind. It wouldn't be the first time I went into sheer death, but I fear it might be the last. 


	2. Bumps in the Night

Chapter Two: Bumps in the Night  
  
We walked down the winding metal staircase to an open room with cameras covering the walls. My hand found the gun in my pocket, and I slowly drew it out. Everyone else had there's out as well. I walked out of the pack, and stood next to a mirror. I saw my flustered reflection, and even through all the shit I was standing in, I smiled. I smiled just as I smashed in the first camera with the bottom of my magnum. It shattered to the ground, almost peacefully.  
  
No one stopped me as I made my way to the second camera, but I could feel their stares piercing into my back. I felt a hand touch my shoulder. It was warm and comforting. I put my gun to my side and looked over at whoever it was. It was the redhead, Sarah. She wasn't smiling, but she was looking sad. And to break the moment's silence, Richard's booming voice filled the large storage room. "Let's go. I don't want to have to bust out every camera on this island."  
  
I touched the hand on my shoulder and politely pushed it aside. My eyes never left hers. She looked almost like she knew what I wanted to say. All twelve of us started off to the end of the room. I knew they were all gazing into the depths of their shoes... completely lost in thought. I just didn't want to die like this. Not like this.  
  
We reached a door, but before Richard could reach out for the handle, a desperate moan filled the air. The noise and the smell hit us even before what ever it was scratched across the door. It almost seemed everyone jumped backwards at the same time. We stood there, listening to the scratching for minutes it felt like. No one said anything. It felt like they weren't even breathing.  
  
I gripped my gun tighter and stepped forward. I pushed past the silent people, making them jump again. I took a deep breath, held it, blinked, and kicked the door in violently. Everyone regained their senses and walked into the hallway. "What the fuck?" a man said. No one was there. Nothing was there.  
  
That very man who uttered the words that rang throughout my mind that night, stepped forward into eternity. He chuckled slightly and turned around to face us. He said while laughing, "There isn't anything in here." Everything slowed down. We all breathed, and our grips loosened. Yet, in that very instant, the man took a step forward, and his throat left his body in red chunks and mucus.  
  
Something had swooped down from somewhere high above the rafters in the room. The man gurgled and started shaking. The blood from his neck soon covered his entire body. He just fell to his knees, and the thing flew down again. His stomach was no where to be found. I just looked in his eyes and saw the absolute fear. The pain in his eyes made me want to look away from them. I looked down at his underbelly, where I found his intestines and some other organs spill out onto the floor rapidly. His head came crashed down into a pool of his own insides.  
  
"Fuck this," I thought, as I lifted up my magnum and fired the first round up into darkness. Sarah had caught along, too, and fired her berretta twice up in the air. A shrill scream filled the air with rage and fury. But something hit the ground and struggled to its feet. One clear shot to the head from my magnum took this thing out. It stopped moving and wrenching around. I finally got a clear view as to what it looked like. The beast was human like, but with fierce talons and what appeared to be large, purple suction cups on its hands and feet.  
  
"Jesus. So that's what they've been cooking up. Well, we can't be too careful. Let's keep the guns out the whole time, shall we?" Richard spook soothingly. He seemed like he was always a spokesperson. We pushed away from the gruesome man lying on the ground, and the viral infected lab rat. Lab rats were all they were. They were the first to be tested. It reminded me of the first monkey shot into space. All this… evil, is for the good of science?  
  
We found a door to the right of where we came in, and a door to the left. We never looked back at the man and beast lying together. "Which one do we take," asked Richard, almost to himself. We looked at one, then the other. We heard someone in the group of eleven mutter, "Typical horror movie." I turned and looked at the girl that had spoken. Her eyeglasses were broken and she was ghastly pale. Her hair looked like a poorly groomed wig. Richard frowned, and stepped towards the door on the right.  
  
His ear was gently placed upon the center of the door. No one breathed while he tried to investigate what was on the other side of the door. I looked at his facial features, and I could tell he enjoyed playing the role of the hero. I found myself slightly jealous of his constant spot in the limelight, but I then thought, "The leaders in all the survival movies died first. Yet, he didn't die first. That heap of body over there did. This isn't fiction. This is real." My thoughts ended abruptly as Richard took his ear off the door and approached us.  
  
"There isn't anything over there, but I want to check the map, anyway." He reached deep into his pocket and pulled out a map. Everyone seemed to crouch down when he did. I crouched as well, but my attention was drawn to one camera. It seemed to be focused on me. It had a small green light on it. I turned my head slightly, and my eyes grew wider as the green light turned red.  
  
A loud bang shook the room as the door on the left burst in with viral infected zombies. They weren't fast, like the other one we encountered in this room. These were the ones that I met up with in Europe. Everyone was caught off guard, but I seemed to be expecting it. I opened fire before anyone else had a chance to lift their guns out. Within mere seconds, I had three down on the ground with bullets in their head. A moan of pain and hunger was release by the remaining five zombies.  
  
I put my gun down to my side, and let the rest of the team take the remainders on. I stepped back a few steps, and the shots rang out. I looked at the creatures, and I realized what they were. They weren't zombies… they were people. Confused people that were here during a spill, I assume. Before they all fell to the ground as mush, I also thought that maybe this wasn't a spill. Maybe this was intentionally done, just to fuck us when they brought us here. I will kill that Michael Birkin who brought us here. I will take down Umbrella… if I could only get off this island!  
  
The virus carriers were down, each riddled with bullet holes. "I think we should take the door on the right," commented Sarah. I nodded an agreement as she glanced over towards me. No one argued with her, we all just wanted to go. Sarah seemed to have taken the lead and she tried to turn the brass doorknob, but it wouldn't budge. She tried again but it wouldn't work. "Shit," she whispered under her breath. Everyone knew what was wrong.  
  
I flashed her a crooked smile, and walked up to the door. I coughed aloud and bashed the door off its hinges with my boot. I walked to the spot I was just in, feeling slightly taller and older. "Okay, then," Richard said, eyeing me with gratified eyes. I felt everyone's eyes on me, but I liked it. They all stumbled into the room with me following behind. My feet fell up and down like a monotone voice. I was lost in the thumps of my feet.  
  
My eyes wandered around the room we were in. It seemed like a narrow hallway with cameras surrounding it. Umbrella must have invested millions in this place. Fancy portraits with cameras sticking from the middle of them covered the walls. It was so dreary, and our silence didn't help. The hall had a dead end, but the end was rounded, with four doors. The doors were different colors. Red, blue, purple, and black were the different colors that the doors had. My brain thought to myself, "Aw fiddlesticks! Now where do we go?"  
  
A few muttered their "fucks, shits, and damns." I, however, remained silent… like always. Richard took a deep breath, as if he was going to make another of his famous speeches, and as it turns out, he did. "I no you all aren't going to like this idea, but I strongly think we should find out what is behind each of these doors. We will split into groups of…" he looked around at our startled faces and continued, "Four, but one will only have three." His voice echoed slightly in the narrow hallway. I nodded, think that it wasn't the best idea, but it was an idea. 


	3. Hole in the Floor

Chapter Three: Hole in the Floor  
  
Reluctantly, everyone else agreed silently. I felt like I was in high school again, waiting to be picked for the certain team. I wondered which color door I would have to venture through, what will be behind it, and whom I'd be with. Richard took the initiative of picking the group of four he was in. He was with two macho guys and one scrawny, middle-aged man was part of their group.  
  
The second group was two regular guys, they didn't seem too special, and two girls. The two girls had curly hair, and when they said their names, they didn't suit their looks in the least bit. They were Veronica and Cassandra, which I found rather exotic names for sleazy looking Resistance people. I hadn't noticed those people all that much; they had all remained silent since landing.  
  
I had looked around at the remaining two. I was in the group with one less person. It was Sarah, Laura, and I to go out into door… "You three will go into the Black door," Richard's voice spoke aloud. He discussed the plan with us, and it wasn't as complex as I first thought it would be. As it turns out, we were merely going into sheer death without anyway to call for help. We had to assume when an hour was up so we can turn back, and we had to remember every door, every hall, and every turn we made.  
  
Sarah looked determined to go out, seeming a lot braver than she was upon landing. The other member of the group seemed as if she was getting ready to shoot her small handgun at the first thing that she sees moving. Richard's speech, which I had barely heard, came to an impressive end. A few murmured, "Yeah," while the rest nodded weakly. I, however, remained still.  
  
It felt silent, and I was the first to break the silence. Not with my voice, of course, but with my plundering footsteps to the black door. I turned its handle, and signaled Laura and Sarah to follow. It took a few seconds for them to realize what was happening, but when they did they followed me through the door, slowly drawing their guns. We stepped forward a little and looked around the great hallway. The entire area was painted all black with red lights spotlights dangling from the ceiling. There were cameras along the walls… mocking us.  
  
We heard footsteps from outside our room march into the other rooms. Our door seemed to slowly close itself. I jumped at the sound of the door's closing, but it was the thing that had swooped down that made me open my mouth to scream. Yet, before I could struggle to force out a pitch shout, I opened fired on the beast with wings. The creature screamed bloodcurdlingly and hurled it self at Sarah. She let out a scream, but it was cut short by an ear piercing shot being fired.  
  
A bullet zoomed from my magnum and punctured a hole in the thing's head. It flopped to the ground with a thud and left Sarah standing still, shaking. I walked over to the clump of mucus shit on the ground. The blast from my gun had ripped apart the neck and it mangled its head as well. I looked over the viral carrying beast and notice something I never thought possible… even from Umbrella.  
  
"Wings…" Sarah murmured. She stated it as clear as it should have been stated. It was a fucking man with wings! It was like one of the monsters I feared as a child. The sides of the man's arms were just blood and tissue. The top layer of skin had rotted off. "Are you all okay," muttered the Laura girl from behind me. I had forgotten about her being here for a second, but she was soon remembered. I loaded my gun and looked around.  
  
The dark hall seemed to feel a bit brighter. I don't know if it was just my eyes becoming adjusted or someone had turned the lights a bit up. There weren't any doors except for the one at the end of the threatening hall. The door loomed closer as we stepped monotonously. Our feet hit the floor in a soothing rhythm. My heart beat loudly against my chest, making me feel as if the creatures could sense me from the noise. The door was in grasping reach, but I felt as if I had opened to many doors in one night. Sarah walked ahead of me and looked at my eyes for a brief second. Her concerned, yet determined glare gave me a small hope for survival.  
  
She twisted the handle gently, and breathed deeply. She stepped into the room, as I stood behind her motionlessly. Her bravery made me draw my guns and step forward. Laura came tumbling in after me. The room was brightly lit and was massive. A dining table was in the middle and doors upon doors covered the walls. "Aw shit!" Laura announced blankly. She didn't seem mad, but depressed in a way. Before Sarah could utter any of her soothing words, I spaced out and noticed something quite unusual. Sarah's voice started but trailed off after she noticed me walk over to the dining table and get on my hands and feet.  
  
I crawled under the long table, even though I was embarrassed, I had to know what the handle was. "What are you doing," Sarah wondered aloud. I looked at the metal handle sticking from the floor nervously. I reached over to it and grasped it tightly. I tugged hardly, but nothing happened. I heard Laura say something into Sarah's ear, but I didn't quite catch it. I pulled on the handle again… no use.  
  
I rolled out from the table. I stood up and brushed myself off, feeling embarrassed I had made a small scene. Sarah walked over to me and lifted her arm slowly. My eyes opened widely, thinking she was going to strike me, but she merely brushed dust from my arm in a spot I had missed. She looked at me, trying to see beyond my face, and she appeared to be trying to see what I would be saying at this moment. She put her hand down, and her mouth opened to speak, although an ear splitting rumble cut her off intensely.  
  
The floor shook and all of us were knocked off our feet. I looked around the room, but there wasn't anything out of the norm. The shaking stopped abruptly, and we stood up gradually. "Damn, don't you hate it when that happens?" Laura asked, staring at me. I giggled slightly and nodded. Laura smiled gracefully and stroked her long brownish hair. She walked over towards the door on the other side of the room and reached for the handle. She turned it softly, forgetting to get out her berretta as she stepped into the unknown door.  
  
"Hey," Sarah yelled to Laura, "You better be ready for anything when you walk into unexplored doors." Laura smiled even wider, and grabbed her gun from her pocket. She turned around slowly and was met with a bite to the neck from a viral infected zombie. Half of her neck was torn right off from the merciless cannibal. Chunks of flesh and blood hit the floor when I lifted my magnum and shot one bullet to the head of the monster. It fell back, and in seconds, the pale body of Laura landed atop the zombie.  
  
"Fuuuuck!" Sarah cursed, "I should have warned her sooner!" I touched her shoulder, but walked away from her shaky stance. I shuffled over to the door slowly, clutching my grip with white knuckles. It seemed silent. It seemed I was alone. I walked along side of Laura's bloody body, not looking at her cold eyes. Something grasped my ankle violently, forcing me to fall to the ground painfully. My gun flew from my hand and I was weaponless.  
  
Richard lifted his gun too the last remaining member of his group. He shot the man in his head, just before he started to change. He had been bitten, but Richard shot him before he could turn into a monster. He sobbed and put his shotgun down. The bloody heap on the ground was his fault. He left his guard down. Three men died, and those three men were all depending on him. "God, get me the hell out of here!" he pleaded loudly.  
  
He had run out of bullets on his handgun, two rooms back. His two-barreled shotgun was in his grip tightly. He walked towards the door to his left, but a rumbling quake threw him off balance. The shake threw him into a desk, and his head collided with the side of it. Richard looked around the room dizzily, and everything went black.  
  
Years passed until Richard woke up, although he had only been knocked out for a few minutes. He opened the door in front of him slowly and quietly. He looked around at the monster movie scene he witnessed. He saw the mute man being tripped by a zombie on the floor, and he saw the man's gun fly from his hand. "Foolish boy!" he thought as he drew his weapon to the beast on the floor.  
  
He fired his shotgun and the monster's arm came off. He reloaded quickly, but before he could finish off the zombie, the other women in the room fired her handgun twice into the thing's head, and it had stopped moving and moaning.  
  
A shot was fired in my direction when I dropped my gun. I looked over and saw a man with a shotgun in his hands. Laura had already become violent, and she was trying as hard as she could to get a chunk from my flesh. I tried to scream, but nothing escaped my mouth. I hated the feeling, and I knew it could be the last I felt it. Sarah fired two shots into Laura's soft-fleshed head. Blood and brain chunks flew onto my shirt and pants, but I knew I was safe for the moment. I scurried towards my gun and aimed it at the man who I had seen with the shotgun.  
  
As it turned out, the man was merely Richard. I had thought it was someone else, and I wasn't willing to take any more chances. I sighed and put my gun down. Richard held out his hand, and I took it. He pulled me to my feet and I mouthed the word, "Thanks." He nodded and patted my back kindly.  
  
"Now, what's in that room?" Richard asked, pointing ahead of them to the open door where the zombie come out had and eaten Laura. Sarah answered quietly, "We… we don't know." Richard reloaded his gun and started for the room. He stalked by me and entered the gloomy room. I followed leisurely; making sure my gun was ready. I felt Sarah breathing close behind me. I could tell she was scared and uneasy, just as I was.  
  
The room was circular and the ceiling stretched up to the roof. The entire room was covered in some sort of paper-like thing. A gigantic, long, flaky thing covered the room. I looked around the place, and noticed a humongous hole in the center of the floor. It took me a few seconds to realize what was happening. "Oh shit…" Sarah muttered. That basically was all I needed to say right now. I am not afraid of anything, but one thing. Richard began to speak, "There is a giant snake on the loose, and I have two more rounds left…." 


	4. Slithering

Chapter Four: Into the Basement  
  
We're dead…" I thought to myself. Richard will die first, then Sarah, and I will die last. I will die alone, which is the way I've lived. I loaded my magnum and stared into the never-ending hole. It went down forever, but I had a feeling that if I'm alive by the end of tonight, I will be down there. I no longer feared dying here; I only feared what killed me. Although I had just loaded my magnum, I checked it to see if all my bullets were situated in the proper slots.  
  
Sarah reached into her pocket and drew out a quarter. She walked to the edge of the dark hole in the floor, and she lightly dropped the quarter down the pit. She counted quickly, "One, two, three, four, five, six," and a slight dink cut her off. She turned around and closed her eyes a bit. She seemed to be thinking hard when Richard asked, "What are you doing?" Sarah smiled maliciously. I looked at her, trying to decode what she was thinking just now.  
  
She opened her mouth and said sweetly, "It's a thirteen foot drop, if any of you were think about going down it…" Richard laughed loudly and tapped my shoulder. I turned around and he said while laughing, "You hearing this, kid? I have two fucking rounds and she wants volunteers to go down into an unknown hole where a pretty fucking big snake is! Sorry, Hun, but I'm not going!"  
  
I flipped him off and thought, "Fuck it, I have absolutely nothing to lose tonight." I walked over to Sarah and smiled slightly. She smiled back. "If you go down, I am right behind you," she said, "but promise to catch me after I jump?" Without thinking, I nodded my head.  
  
Looking down on the hole, it seemed to not have an end. Thirteen feet is sort of a high jump. Richard's booming voice interrupted my gazing, "You guys are going to die, you know that, right?" He sounded panicky and uneasy. I turned around to face him, but he was staring at Sarah blankly. "I know, but we'll be known as heroes to the Resistance if we live. You'll be known as a pussy," Sarah replied.  
  
"HA! Tough chick," I thought to myself. Richard stood there stunned, I waved to him, and I jumped over the edge. I waved my arms in circles as the air whistled beside me. My body hit the ground loudly, and I felt my legs collapse from the weight my body against the hard floor. I breathed loudly and immediately reached into my pockets for my gun. Feeling nothing, I stood up quickly and scooped around the floor. My gun had been about four feet away from me, but instead of walking over to it, I clapped my hands, signaling Sarah.  
  
"Are you ready? I am coming," she shouted, thirteen feet above the floor I stood upon. I clapped again, and she started counting. "One, two, THREE!" she shouted just before I saw her leap from the place she was standing. She shouted a bit, but in a split second, she crashed into my arms. I was knocked off balance with her atop me. She giggled playfully as I smiled happily. She stood up slowly and was greeted with Richard's frantic voice; "Don't expect me to come down there after you two! I'm getting out of here!"  
  
His footsteps lead him from the room loudly, and I desired to shout, "Wait!" Sarah walked over to me and she put her hand out too help me up. "Here," she said sweetly. I took her hand and felt it grip tightly on mine. She tugged hardly, and I stood up quickly. When I was standing, it took me seconds to realize how close I was next to her. She looked me in the eye and bent over. I gasped, but she merely picked up my dropped gun and handed it to me.  
  
I mouthed the word "Thanks," but no matter how hard I strained to make sound, I knew I failed. I clutched my gun tightly and walked passed her. We walked down a long, large hallway. The walls were concrete and I just knew what would be around the bend in the hallway ahead of us. My magnum shook in my hand, and I felt Sarah's soothing fingertips grasp my hand gently, but just enough to stop them from shaking.  
  
"Don't be scared… you're a Resistance member. You aren't suppose to fear anything those Umbrella bastards cook up," Sarah said, calming me down. I nodded my head and though she was right. Why am I afraid? All I am dealing with is another of the millions of Umbrella creatures I've fought off. All I am dealing with is my biggest fear times five. It'll be all right.  
  
I walked a little faster, and Sarah still stayed by my side. My hand was no longer shaking as it once had. The gun pointed my direction skillfully. The beads of sweat trickling down my forehead mimicked me, they were laughing at me. I smiled crookedly and turned around and walked backwards. My hand rose up and I signaled for Sarah to stop.  
  
She stopped abruptly as I turned and ran off into the darkness of the tunnel-like area. "Wait! You can't go off alone," she shouted after me. I ignored the calls and continued my quick dash. My surroundings were a blur as I lapped a corner in the tunnel. The gun in my hand was held tighter than it ever has ever been before. I only noticed one thing as I ran, "Why would there be camera's here?"  
  
I heard a slither and stopped myself automatically. That was the noise I had heard back when my brother, William, tortured me with his pet snake. That was the noise I always thought I would die hearing. I hate snakes more than anything in the world, and I just ran off into the fucking Valley of Mutated Snakes.  
  
Something small slithered beside me. I jumped in fear and opened fire into nothingness. If I could scream, I would be doing it right now. Every other shot I fired, I saw red snake blood explode like squeezed ketchup packets. Between shots I heard screams of the snakes around it. My gun stopped going off and it clicked empty.  
  
I slowly walked backwards, swallowing the building saliva in my mouth. I reached deep into my pocket and pulled out a pack of matches. Umbrella hadn't found this when they searched me. I lit the match and the things that once were unnoticeable came into view. Millions of snakes covered the floor ten feet in front of me. "Oh fuck me!" my mind screamed as I bolted off into the other direction.  
  
My breathing was fast and rapid like my footsteps. My sense of direction wasn't, though. I slammed into Sarah, knocking both of us off our feet. She caught her breath and shouted, "What is it?" I shook her by her shoulders and signaled her to follow me in the other direction of the tunnel.  
  
Our feet feel monotonously against the hard gravel-like floor. She skidded across a few feet of the gravel and shouted, "Door!" Her index finger pointed to a rusted door to my left. I reached the hand vigorously and jerked the door open. I jumped in just after Sarah. She bashed the door closed with her kicking foot.  
  
"Now, why did you do that?" she asked me attentively. My breathing continued without end as I glanced around the room we were in. In one corner was a large box, and in the other there was a typewriter sitting atop a small table. I walked to the type writer and wrote on the piece of paper inside of it:  
  
There were millions of snakes. I have a few clips left, but when I saw them all I panicked. I'm sorry.  
  
I stopped typing and turned to face her. "It's alright. What do you think is in that box over there?" I frowned slightly and walked over to it. I lifted the top and my eyes twinkled at the wonderful sight. "Jesus! Would you look at that? I've never seen that many guns crammed into such a small space," Sarah stated, making me smile. I reached in and grabbed what I could hold. I set them on the ground and checked one by one to see if they were loaded. They were all packed with bullets, rounds, clips, and one even shot grenades. "Look at the size of this beauty," Sarah consulted as she held the gigantic grenade launcher.  
  
I ran my fingertips across the large gun and smiled even wider. I thought to myself, "This is the kind of gun that'll take out something pretty big. Maybe something as big as that snake."  
  
"To bad we can't take it with us," Sarah stated. She replied to my puzzled reaction by saying, "Would you rather have one big gun, or thousands of smaller ones. We cannot carry all of them." She was absolutely right. I could hardly hold the gun. It weighed what seemed to be as much as Sarah and me combined. I set it down and grabbed just about every gun in the box. I stuck the guns in almost every part of my clothing and body that could handle it.  
  
Sarah had been ready with two sawed-off shotguns. She had pockets full of rounds that bulged from the sides of her pants. I walked to the typewriter and wrote:  
  
Ready?  
  
She nodded stiffly and mumbled, "Yeah."  
  
Let's fuck 'em up!  
  
We walked from the room, suddenly feeling an odd cold. The air reeked of decay and decomposition. We walked slowly down the same murky tunnel. It interrogated our footsteps and left us feeling confused as we rounded the turn where the millions of snaked squirmed on top of each other.  
  
Although, the snakes I had once saw cover the floor were gone. All but one remained, and it slithered into another humungous hole. "I don't suppose you have a quarter?" Sarah said with tension in her once soothing and confident voice. I rubbed the back of my head and felt the beads of sweat on the tips of each strand of hair. "Well, do you want to jump in?"  
  
Just as those words were uttered, the floor around us rumbled more than it ever had. We were immediately knocked off our feet onto the cold, hard floor. About ten feet ahead lay the fattest, longest snake, still coming out of a freshly made hole. It looked three times the size of an anaconda snake, and its drawn fangs leaked with purple gunk. The ground seemed to melt as the purplish liquid sank into it.  
  
"Oh shi-" Sarah began, but the snake seemed to scream before she could finish. I remember seeing a hole straight through the floor before I opened fire on the beast. I shot rounds, bullets, and shells into the monster, along with Sarah's continuous firing. Red holes pattered along the side of the two-ton snake. It only hissed and screamed in hardly any agony. It advanced on us quickly, but all we could do was backup slowly without taking our eyes off the target.  
  
I heard a scream from Sarah, but it was pitched very oddly. I looked back for a brief second and saw nothing. Sarah was gone. She fell down the unknown black hell. "Hey! Get down here!" she screamed hastily. I fired one more shot into the monster and jumped down the hole the snake previously made.  
  
"Are you okay?" she asked. She nodded when I nodded and ran down the hall. We were in an elegant hallway that seemed to only be in hotels, although the walls were torn up, there were barrels along the wall, and cameras covered the bumpy ceiling. "Run! We don't have much time!" Sarah screamed. I moved my legs with all my strength, but I tripped halfway across the hall to Sarah. All my guns flew from my pockets and hands. The silver murderous weapons decorated the floor with horror. Another rumbling came and I flew through the air. This shake had caught me off guard, and so did the long black snake that covered the floor in front of me. I was weaponless, helpless, and I was sure this is where I check-out. 


	5. Kelly

Chapter Five: Kelly  
  
"Hey, you mother fucker!" screamed a voice up in the ceiling area. I looked up and saw the same grenade launcher from the other room sticking from the hole the snakes venom had made. "Get down pulling me from the snake.  
  
A shot was fired into eternity, and the barrels alongside the wall left the world in smoldering fire. Half the hallway was taken out from that single shot, as well as the long threatening snake. The insides of the snake danced in the air around us for a second until they fell down upon our gloomy expressions. Our skin and clothes were coated with mucus, tissue, blood, and shit I cannot begin too describe.  
  
We walked from our once frozen in time stance. A man in a long black trench coat galloped toward us with a triumphant look on his now boyish face. "So! The pussy came back and saved the day, huh?" he said with a demonic grin on his face. We stood without moving for minutes. His grin slowly faded just before Sarah bellowed, "What are you waiting for? A blowjob for congrats?" Sarah chuckled and took the large gun from Richard.  
  
"Are you fucking stupid, or something? You could have killed us both! But you didn't think of that, did you?" she shouted furiously while waving the deadly weapon from side to side. "I- I- I'm sorry, Sarah. I guess I wasn't thinking…" Richard spoke apologetically.  
  
Sarah laughed a bit and said, "No! You were thinking. You just saved our lives." She ran over to him and gave him a big hug. A "thank you" was whispered into his ear as she backed away. He looked down at his black trench coat (which was now covered in some shit from the snake that was on Sarah's clothing when she hugged him) and replied, "It was no problem!"  
  
I nodded my head and walked over to the leftover chunks of body parts from the snake. I unwillingly fished through them until I found all the guns I had dropped. I shoved them back into my belt, pockets, and hands while Sarah mumbled to herself. "What was that, Sarah?" Richard asked her attentively. She loaded her guns and said, "Nothing. I was just wondering what floor we were on.  
  
Richard reached into a large pocket in his trench coat and pulled out a map of the compound. "We are…" he started saying while moving his finger up the map, "here! We are on Floor 9, Medical Level, in the Wingardom Facility, on Test Subject A Island in the middle of nowhere. Hmm… Isn't that just peachy?" Sarah suddenly looked more horrified than she had when we were in front of a few-toned snake. "Medical Level? As in Hospital Level?" Richard nodded curiously.  
  
"So? What does it matter if it's the Medical Level? It looks the same as any other," Richard question Sarah. I just stood back and watched. I wondered why Sarah seemed started, but she answered that question for me.  
  
"I hate hospitals. Well, I actually hate doctors in hospitals," Sarah laughed and continued talking, "My brother was a pretty big part to the Resistance. When he was shot in the lower thorax, they said they could help. But the doctors were one of Umbrella's little payroll friends. They- uh- do you know those electric shock things doctors use to keep the heart beating?"  
  
"Defibrillators; yes," Richard spoke in concern.  
  
"The doctors put them against his head, and he died instantaneously. Shit, I was like… seven when it happened. He was pretty much my father. So I don't like hospitals or doctors," Sarah muttered. I suddenly felt a lot closer to her. Richard put his hand on her shoulder and whispered into her ear, "I'm so sorry, Sar."  
  
I wandered down the hall when Richard whispered to her. I had a wave of intense fury toward Umbrella. My footsteps were loud and were going at the slow pace of my heart. "Where are you going?" Richard shouted after me. I pointed straight ahead and heard him and Sarah begin to follow me.  
  
In seconds, they stood behind me, casting an eerie shadow from the fluorescent light above. The red dot of each camera eyed us maliciously. I sensed a strong scent of decay not far up the hall. The stench intensified and made Sarah vomit bile and her last meal all over the floor. I didn't see her do it, but the sounds were horrendous. Two doors too the left and right of me mocked me.  
  
"Maybe my stuff is still with me…" I thought to myself. I held up my hand to Richard and the green-faced Sarah as the slowly advanced to where I was standing. I reached down quickly and yanked my shoe from my foot. My sock came off seconds after the black shoe thumped against the floor. A packet of pills lay inside the packet. Umbrella hadn't found these beauties!  
  
"What are they?" Richard asked in his regular voice, but it was just a slight bit flustered. I tore apart the baggy, and the pills fell into my outstretched hand. I swallowed three and handed the other four to Richard. I gave him thumbs up that they were okay, and he gave two to Sarah. "Are they just head ache medicines?" she asked as she held them in he sweaty, sick hand. Why else would I grab the package if it weren't for a headache because of this unbearable smell? But I nodded, nonetheless.  
  
We pinched our noses, as we turned left into the door where the smell was obviously coming from. I clutched my gun loosely due to the sweat my palms were covered in. My pistol aimed at the door was semi-automatic Uzi 2.5… bullshit to me. The name of my gun was nothing, but what this one in particular did to what was in the room I stood in front of, it was worth noting the name.  
  
I had kicked in the door and found myself in front of seven virus carriers. The beasts were basically mush from such strong decay. I flipped the gun to automatic and fired four shots. The loud crash, bright flash of light, and the dark red blood oozing from the head and mouth of every zombie. I killed two per shot, minus the last one. The scalp was missing from them all, and only after they were mere corpses lying in a pool of their own sticky blood, did I realize they were in long doctor coats with nametags. I normally felt pity for the ones like this, but I didn't feel very fond of the zombies that night. Especially doctors.  
  
"Good show? Shit, is it just me, or did I hear only four shots ring out? Because if it isn't, then I think we have ourselves a damn good marksman," Richard cried. He looked around the room and it was silent for a few seconds. The seconds after that silence did my night take a turn for something good.  
  
A shot was fired somewhere downstairs. We looked at each other startled and confusedly. Sarah muttered what we all already knew. "Someone's downstairs."  
  
We ran. We ran until our sides pumped acid and our stomachs screamed in agony. Then we ran some more. We went down a long flight of stairs, a winding hallway, and into door after door of bloody messes. The decaying bodies on the floor crawled around in almost every room. The screaming from the missing survivor started again. We were getting closer and closer.  
  
A door flew open just feet in front of us, and out came a skinless dog. The hound from hell had half an ear; a small chunk of a jaw was left, and no tail. This dog had obviously been infected for quite some time. I thought if I would have kicked it, it might have turned to pulp.  
  
The dog ran along the floor barking madly. Richard fired a shot into the dog's soft flesh. The bullet went right through it, but it didn't slow down at all. "Oh fuck!" Richard screamed, just before the dog jumped up at his sweaty face. Richard ducked immediately, but the dog wasn't through. It ran at him, yet again. This time, Richard knew he was screwed. In the blink of an eye, I tackled Richard against the ground, but I was too slow.  
  
My back ripped open, and I felt the blood spewing from a wound on my back. I lifted my Uzi 2.5 at the pup that was airborne, speeding towards the screaming, confused Sarah. I opened fire and watched the dog being slammed against the wall from the force of my fierce bullets. Only four shots (five if you include Richard's) took down the beast.  
  
"That fucking dog!" my mind screamed. I stood up and Richard stared at me in awe. "You… You saved me?" he said it more like a question. I nodded instinctively and walked towards the nearest camera. I lifted my gun and bashed the camera in front of me open with the butt of my gun. It broke into pieces. "Wrong one," I thought. I walked down the line of cameras and smashed them.  
  
Sarah grabbed my wrist and asked nervously, "What are you doing? You have a gash on your back pretty bad…" I smiled and broke the camera psychotically. A red container fell from the broken camera, and I caught it before it hit the ground. I got just what I needed, but I'll use it later. "What is that?" the deeply breathing Richard wondered aloud.  
  
As soon as Richard spoke those words, another hammering scream echoed from down the hall. It was a woman's scream, and I had heard it before. We broke into another run. We arrived at a locked door towards the end of the long hallway where the screams were bellowing. "This door has a heart carved in the handle!" Sarah shouted.  
  
"Who is there?" the voice screamed. I know that voice.  
  
"Three members of the Resistance. Who are you?" Sarah shouted back.  
  
"My name is Kelly. I was captured a few weeks ago and they put me on this isle two days ago. Everyone is dead!" the voice screamed. I pushed Sarah and Richard aside to make room for kicking in the door. I slammed into the door once, twice, three times until it became a lot looser. I shot the handle, and the door burst open. The tear stricken girl moved to the corner of the room, closing her eyes. I rubbed my hand through her straight blonde hair. She glanced up at me with twinkling eyes. She smiled a great smile and screamed, "Oh my gosh, Michael! Mike! What are you doing here? How did you find me? Jesus, I was so scared… so scared. I love you Michael!"  
  
Richard and Sarah stood behind me dumbstruck. "You- um- you two know each other?" Sarah mumbled. Kelly stood up and wrapped her arms around me. She gave me a few tender kisses as I lifted her off the ground and spun her in a circle. She giggled and turned to Sarah after I set her down. "This is my boyfriend, Michael," she said in a now happy voice.  
  
Sarah responded, "Michael? He never told us his name." Kelly laughed her sweet laugh that I had so dearly missed. "Yeah… I didn't think he would tell, seeing as how he can't say a word." I rubbed her cheek gently, but I felt a scorching pain in my back. I just remembered the dog scratching apart my back. I took my shirt off quickly, reached into my pocket, and grabbed the anti-virus. I tossed it to the scared Kelly and turned on my stomach.  
  
"Oh, baby! What happened? How long ago was it?" Kelly screamed in fear. Richard calmed her down by placing his hand against his lips. "Shhh! It was only a few minutes ago. A hellhound got him. He was trying to save me, too. What is that stuff, anyway?"  
  
"Oh this?" she held up the anti-virus, "This is what is going to prevent him from turning into one of those things. It's the anti-virus." Richard nodded, but he was still very intrigued. He looked at my calm face and asked me, "How did you know about that anti-virus thing being behind cameras?"  
  
I smiled, but soon turned red in the face, in agony. Kelly injected me with the painful anti-virus. It burned and scorched my back, but I knew I wouldn't turn to a zombie. "We better get going," Sarah began, "I don't know about you guys, but I really wanna make it home before dinner!" We all giggled at the joke, but knew we should continue getting out of here. From the looks of the map, we have eight floors to go in this building. After that, we must go through another part of the island.  
  
"This is going to be a super fun night!" I thought randomly. We walked from the room slowly. Well, I was going slowly from the pain in my back, they were just going at my pace. Kelly wrapped her arm around me as we walked to the wooden door at the end of the hall. Kelly was basically weaponless. She had a combat knife, but when she told, I loaded her with two small handguns. One thing about Kelly I knew, she loved guns.  
  
The door loomed closer. Sarah ran to it and shouted, "Let me take this one." She turned the doorknob slowly and drew her weapon. She jumped into the brightly lit room with Richard close behind. Kelly and I heard shots fire immediately. Between shots we heard Richard scream, "Hunters!" I looked at Kelly and smiled.  
  
"Hunters, your favorite," she shouted in my ear. The loud gunshots didn't stop. I walked in with my Uzi 2.5 and fired continuously. The green monsters ran and jumped in the large room. It was like a hotel lobby with its enormous size, with hardly anything in it. Red dots pierced them all over just before they fell over. I counted fifteen around the whole room. Kelly was soon alongside of our group. Everyone picked one and fired. They ran towards us, but never got close enough to attack. I roared in laughter. I love hunters.  
  
After our twenty seconds of continuous firing, they were all dead, and I had to reload my gun. Richard opened his mouth but nothing came out. Sarah says, "Richard, I know what you were thinking. That kicked ass!" 


	6. Fresh Air

Chapter Six: Fresh Air  
  
Our hearts hammered against our chest in rhythm to our footsteps. The walls of the fifth floor were peeling and brown. In some spots, it looked as if someone had pissed all over them. The map told us it was the Animal Test floor. I had been waiting for a floor that they used to test their experiments on things. I could tell Sarah had suspected there to be this kind of floor. There always is.  
  
Kelly's warm hand held my frighten fingertips. I slid my hand into hers for a firmer grasp. This was quite a scene; I had a gun in my right hand, a girl in my left. She had a gun in her left and my hand in her right. Richard walked passed us with a semi poking from his large coat pocket. His hair was wet from the pouring sweat of fear.  
  
A door to my left was open a slight crack. I let go of Kelly's hand and felt lost. I pushed the door open slowly with my left hand. It creaked loudly, almost throwing me off balance from the silence we were once engulfed in. "Mikey?" Kelly asked. I turned to her and forced a smile. Yet that smile turned into a look of panic as hundreds of viral infected crows seeped from the opened door.  
  
Sarah screamed girlishly and ran down the hallway. Richard ran alongside of her, but Kelly and I jumped into the room the crows were once in. They swooped down on us as we entered the shit-covered room. I kicked the door closed and only four birds got in. Kelly shot them all down with her handgun that she had out. The other was in her back pocket. She fired only five shots. The first crow was shot against the wall and looks like a mere Halloween decoration.  
  
Two others went down in the same fashion. The final feathered freak had been shot at twice. The first shot was a miss that hit the window at the other end of the square room. The bird flew out into the dark night sky, while the angry, red-faced Kelly ran to the window and shot it dead into the streets below.  
  
She glanced at me and winked. "Are they falling?" she asked. I laughed aloud and nodded. She smiled even wider and cheered. "Get over here, tiger!" I ran to her and pushed her lips apart with my tongue. I had missed her so much.  
  
"We ought to get out of here. We should see if Richard and What's Her Name are okay," she whispered. I nodded and we left the room with our weapons ready. The hallway was small, slightly cramped. The door at the end was open all the way, exposing the empty room inside.  
  
"Richard?" Kelly spoke, but she was met without an answer. The moonlit sky intoxicated me from the open window. I walked to the open window and took in some fresh air, despite the frantic situation we all were facing.  
  
The air tasted much nicer than the air inside the facility. This air was not filled with decay, chemicals, and God knows what else, like this place was. "Hey! Are you guys up there?" shouted a woman's voice from below the window. I could tell it was Sarah's. Kelly was by my side in a second, looking down the open window.  
  
Outside the window hung Richard and Sarah on a figurehead of a hawk from the side of the building. "Jesus, fuck! Help us!" screamed the dangling Sarah. Her hand was sliding slowly off. Beads of sweat tricked down her face. Richard looked just as frantic. I bolted out of the room, but not before kissing Kelly on her cool cheek. I dashed down the hallway and down a long flight of stairs. Each floor went by, as I slowly got closer to the ground. "This is the second floor…" I thought to myself as I walked off the flight of stairs into the hall.  
  
I ran down the hall, but it seemed to be going in slow motion. The sweat swaying from my hair was painting the walls. The carpet below me was stained with deep red blood. The door to my right burst open with a virus carrier moaning for my pale flesh. I never stopped running, even when I planted to bullets into his neck and already decomposing face.  
  
I heard the screaming of Sarah from outside the walls of this floor. I turned into a green door with a rusty handle, snagging my hand against it. I felt blood trickle down my elbow when I lifted my hand to inspect the wound. "Fucking help us! I can't hold on any longer!" screamed the voice of an exhausted man from out the window in this room. The room was all green, and made me think of a plant I had run into when I first started out in the Resistance.  
  
I kicked the window out as soon as I reached it, clutching my hand. I stuck my head out the window and everything stopped going in slow motion. I looked up, and about five feet above me was Sarah and Richard, hanging for their lives on a sculpture sticking from the building. "Sarah, drop!" screamed Kelly from three floors above.  
  
"Oh no! Oh no! Oh fuck no!" Sarah chanted. She glanced down at me holding out my hand. Blood dribbled from it, but she didn't notice. She shut her eyes and whispered a quick prayer. She let go from her strong hold and free fell for the slightest second.  
  
My hand flew out and grabbed her arm. I held tightly, and she looked up at me and smiled with teary eyes. "Thank you so much!" she breathed. She looked back down, but that was when she slipped from my grasp. She screamed a brief scream, but I caught her at her hand. The red blood from the rusty door made her hand slowly slide down.  
  
"Please don't drop me, Mike!" I reached down with my left hand and yanked. I got a firmer grip, and slowly pulled her to the room I was standing in. She looked up at me so gratefully. She was so happy, and I had just saved her life. I was stuck in a moment staring into her eyes. The moment vanished when the screaming of a man hanging off a building filled out ears.  
  
"A little help?!" screamed Richard. I ran to the window and Kelly and Sarah shouted, "Drop!" I watched him breathe and slip away from the hawk. "Sh-h-hit!" he stammered. It was a quick drop, but I missed his hand and arm, altogether.  
  
When his fingertips miss my grasp, I knew he was done for. Yet, I found something else to grab hold of. His long trench coat was all there was I could grab, so I made a go for it. My hand clutched it tightly, with Sarah soon helping. "Thanks," Richard started, "I thought I was a goner!"  
  
Richard's arms slipped from the trench coat, but his left hand swung up to take hold of the other end of his long coat. "Jesus Christ! Pull me the fuck up!" he bellowed. His voice echoed a bit as I slowly lifted the heavy man by the bottom of his coat. He held on tightly, but he let his left hand go for me to grab when he was almost within reach.  
  
Sarah reached down. Their fingers almost came into contact when we heard the long coat tear. My face turned deep red from how heavy it seemed to be getting. The coat began to slice, and I pulled another tug. His left hand grabbed Sarah's. I held onto the coat still. His right held the jacket, while his left clutched Sarah's sweaty palms.  
  
The long black trench coat ripped in half, and Sarah was the only thing he had to hang onto. I scooped him up from under his shoulders, and he fell into the room with us. We all sat down and panted for breath.  
  
Richard sighed fell over on me. "Goddammit, man, give me a hug!" he bellowed. I chucked and stood up. My face slowly regained its regular color. My bloody hand had to be tended to. I know rust will infect it greatly.  
  
Kelly, who had just plunged into the room, was franticly shouting, "Oh my gosh! Are you guys okay? What happened? Why were you two out there?" Richard stood up and helped Sarah to her feet. She smiled her schoolgirl smile and answered Kelly's question. "The crows basically chased us into the room a few floors up, and we ran towards the window. The fear from the crows made me fall out, but Richard grabbed my hand," she exclaimed.  
  
Richard picked up, "Then I saw the swarm of crows flapping in, so I lost my grip. It was when I saw that she grabbed hold of something that I jumped out and caught hold of the statue." I nodded the whole time, amazed at how great of a team they were. Sarah looked so brave, almost as much as Richard.  
  
"Which floor is this?" Sarah asked wonderingly. Richard looked at his chest and stated in response, "The map was in my trench coat, and that's outside in the street." I lifted two fingers to Sarah. She nodded and said, "Let's get out of this place!" That was something I knew we could all agree on.  
  
On the way out, we stopped in a room to our left. It was another room with a box and a typewriter. I wandered over to the box and opened it to reveal the contents. A can of peroxide, a green healing plant, and a blue healing plant was that we had in there. I grabbed the peroxide and dumped it onto my bloody hand-wound. It singed and burned, but I felt it working.  
  
I dabbed the red area for several minutes with my shirt. My shirt wasn't very clean, but it was all I could use. We left the room and started for the door with a flashing exit sign above it. I smiled at the sight, but my smile was broken with the realization that their maybe hundreds of more facilities we would have to go through.  
  
The doors opened easily, revealing a long, New York style street. There were stop signs, streetlight, and even parked cars. The sidewalk we stood on stretch for miles in each direction. We glanced to our left, and we spotted both halves of the trench coat on top of something. Blood surrounded the halves murkily.  
  
I jogged over with Richard close behind. I lifted the first half, and leapt back in terror. I had been caught off guard. When I had lifted the ripped coat, I found myself staring into the cold eyes of the man who had jumped off the building when we first landed. His eyes were gray, and the rest of his face was hard to look at. His jaw painted the sidewalk, and the one side of his head was unrecognizable from the mush and chunks from his torn apart skull. I could almost see a small piece of brain dribbling out his open wound.  
  
Richard gagged. I grabbed the other half of his trench coat and dumped them both out. Guns, weaponry, clips, the map, and a few dollars fell onto the ground. Richard turned from the bloody heap on the white sidewalk and scooped up the contents of his beloved trench coat. He stuffed them into the pockets of his pants, but he handed Sarah the map and a few clips because he couldn't hold very much now he wasn't with his pocketed coat.  
  
He now wore a black turtleneck sweater. Sarah and Kelly didn't look at the body; instead they both stared at the street and where it met the horizon. "So… what does the map say?" Richard questioned Sarah. She unraveled it and searched for where we were standing. "We are on," she glanced the map up and down and continued, "A-F Street. All the streets are letters, or initials, or something. Hey, there is a small piece missing."  
  
I looked at Kelly and gave a nervous smile. She stepped over to me and whispered in my ear, "We are going to die soon. Do you want to do something fun?" My nervous smile turned to a demonic grin. I walked over to Sarah and tapped the paper and held my hand out. She understood and handed me the map. I looked at it carefully and found just what I needed.  
  
"Where are the choppers?" Richard asked, breaking the moment of silence. I looked around the map and handed it to him. "Fuck me," he breathed, "The map is ripped, and the one place we are here to get to is one the piece missing!" I looked over his shoulder again and pointed to a mansion that is near the ripped piece.  
  
Kelly walked over to us and said, "Can we stop into the mansion, please! It is on the way to the ripped part where the helicopters are!" Richard looked over at Sarah. She shook her head slightly, but when she glanced at Kelly, she turned her no into a nodding yes.  
  
"Well if we want to get out of here, we have to go… that way," Richard exclaimed, pointing to his right.  
  
We walked down the never-ending street. Kelly grabbed my hand, and once again we held each other in one hand, and our guns in the other. A load moan, then another, ruined our dreamy pace. In minutes, we heard moans, barks, growls, and screams. Within the blink of an eye, every creature Umbrella as ever cooked up swarmed the streets, along with some other virus carriers I had never seen. The once fresh air stank. Loud gunshots rang out into the cold night, and a battle was waged. 


	7. Army In The Streets

Chapter Seven: Army in the Streets  
  
Before the first shot was fired, a red dot appeared on the head of a virus-infected mutant. I loud bang echoed out in the street, and the beast's face exploded in chunks of skull and pus. Richard, Sarah, Kelly, and I fired our hearts out. I worked on one decaying freak at a time, but I could tell the other three were taking out a large amount at a time. They soon began to surround us.  
  
Within the screams of bullets, we heard a familiar voice from high up shout, "Get outta there!" We looked up into the building we had just come out of, and saw a man with a sniper in one hand and a grenade in the other halfway out a high-up window.  
  
Richard tugged on Sarah's hand, and Sarah grabbed mine, and I held onto Kelly's. We plowed right through a small section of the viral carriers and were blown right off our feet. We heard a dink of something hitting the ground, then an explosion that took us through the air like rag dolls.  
  
The hard asphalt slammed against my shoulder, but all I could think of was Kelly, and how many of those zombie-like creatures were dead. The smoke slowly faded away, and dead genetic freaks surrounded a large crater in the street. The air smelled of burnt rubber, and I thought of who that could've been in the window.  
  
The smoke vanished, and even more zombies than before piled into the streets. "There are too many, we cant do it!" Richard screamed.  
  
"Fuck it," I thought, "I'll take 'em all out if I have too." My Uzi 2.5 roared loadly as I continuously fire at everything I saw. I shot hellhounds, hunters, zombies, and I coated a blue dog with dripping talons at its feet with bullets. Richard loaded his shotgun and fired, loaded, fired, and loaded. Each time he shot, something flew into another zombie, knocking it over.  
  
Every few seconds, something's head would leave its body in a bloody rage. Then, the sniper shots stopped. Our group of four was all that was shooting at them. They would go down, once in a while they would almost make it back up, but we made sure they stayed down.  
  
Suddenly, a man appeared next to me. This man had a red vest, and I recognized him as a member of the Resistance that had been dropped here with me. He carried a sniper and shot at them with miraculous accuracy. We all looked at him, dumbfounded. Where did he come from?  
  
The crowd of zombies died down slightly, and it was the unknown man that had shouted, "There is definitely to many! There are more of those zombies than ammo I have. We have got to get out of here!" I decided to myself that he was right, and took off running with everyone else. I had only one place in mind after I took off: the mansion.  
  
As we ran, we heard the following slow footsteps of the things behind us. My mind buzzed when the hungry moans and vicious barks began coming in at the side. The man in the red vest snatched the gun from Kelly's hand and began firing viral infected pup. In three shots, without breaking the pace if our run, a skinless dog painted the walls in utter horror.  
  
The street never ended. Hunters climbed up the streetlights ahead of us, but Richard knocked them off, and they splattered against the ground in gore. Blue and red dribble came from the mouth of the zombie that was spewing its internal organs into the dusty sidewalk. "Uhhhh," they moaned. "They" referred to the creatures slowly coming in from the back.  
  
"My fucking legs!" Sarah screamed. I didn't know what she was raving about, but I noticed she was carrying more equipment than anyone, and was running at full speed. We continued in fear, but we all had that feeling in us that this was the end of the night. I began to feel it. My legs screamed in agony. My muscles tormented me and slowly began to stiffen up.  
  
The moment I felt I was going to stop running and give up was the same as Sarah. She fell to the ground roughly, and her arms scraped against the asphalt painfully. "Aw fuck!" my thoughts bellowed. I stopped running and ran back. "Mike!" Kelly shouted in a high-pitched tone. I hate my instincts.  
  
I grabbed her by the shoulder and felt her warm breath against my strong hand. "Get the hell off me, your going to get yourself fucking killed!" she yelled in my ear. I ignored her request, and wrapped her around my shoulder. I ran quickly, and almost felt the touch of a zombie-like monster. They moaned in ecstasy, but knew they were close to the prize of my warm red blood.  
  
Sarah bobbed up and down on my back, and I was in more pain than ever before. I needed to just sit down for a second, but my pain and suffering ended as a large mansion loomed into view. I was almost reminded of the infamous Spencer Estate, which was one of the first Umbrella spills in history. It was in a large mansion in some suburban town. It was there the Resistance had started.  
  
Sarah screamed, "You fucking maniac! Let go of me!"  
  
I had learned about this from my brother, Willy. He told me that running for your life can make you not understand the reason you are running. Running, and knowing you can't stop, makes you delirious. In the corner of my eye, I thought I saw something climb up the building. I forgot about it, and continued my dash.  
  
The gates to the mansion got closer and closer. I could almost feel them they were so close. Richard and Kelly opened them the half-conscious girl on my shoulders and me. I felt my legs bending and my feet leaving the ground. Sarah left my shoulders and flew through the air.  
  
It all slowed down. Sarah was a few feet in front of me, I was a few feet from the ground, and a decomposing dog with its teeth still intact was enclosing its mouth on my foot. I hit the ground painfully, and felt my shoe being ripped off my foot. I scooped up my gun and fired two shots at the mutated dog that slowly advanced toward us.  
  
Its left and right eye sockets gushed with dark red blood. It thickly flowed down its black nose and onto the dirty ground. My breathing never slowed, even when I stood up and held my hand out to Sarah. She took it after seconds of staring at it puzzled. I pulled her up slowly, and she stared into my eyes thankfully.  
  
A tear slid down her cheek, and she wrapped her arms around me screaming, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" I laughed and picked her up a little bit. I saw through her hair the happy face of Kelly. I put her down and ran over to Kelly. She smiled and said to me whispering, "We're here." I smiled sadistically and turned to face the red-vested man.  
  
He read my thoughts and said, "My name is Andy Carn. Everyone in my little group in the colored doors has died. I don't think anyone else in there is alive. Do any of you have a map?" Richard nodded, and looked at Sarah. She took out the map slowly, but she never got the chance to hand it to him.  
  
Something jumped from the darkness. I launched itself on Andy Carn's face. It scratched down his sides, and he screamed in agony. I opened fire, but the zombies from outside the fence caught me off guard by breaking through it violently. I never took my eyes off the beast, and Andy never stopped screaming. Five shots tore through the neck, skull, and chest of the murderous beast attacking Andy.  
  
It fell off him and screamed. Andy fell to the ground, covered in his blood, along with the monster's. His body tensed up, and it looked like he was going into convulsions. The beast got back up, even after my ruthless shots, and I noticed it to be a licker/hunter mix. It had talons, but it also had a tongue that swayed back and forth. The thing yelled, and I fired one perfect bullet through its skull. It fell back and twitched, but before I could marvel at my wonderful kill, zombies packed in towards us.  
  
I ran backwards, shooting constantly, until I arrived to the fallen Andy. His red vest was even redder with the dark blood coating it. I bent down to pick him up, but Richard decided it was best for him to play action hero. I ran with them up to the close mansion. It was gigantic, and I knew what lay beyond it. Beyond that mansion was salvation. Beyond that mansion was the helipad with a helicopter with my name on it.  
  
Sarah was oddly the first to reach the door. She tugged on the handle, but it wouldn't budge we looked at each other, and knew what had happened. The door was locked, and there we were standing. I could see almost seventy viral carriers about fifteen yards away. They came in slowly, but our guns rattled with joy.  
  
I took down the first row, while Andy sniped down one at a time. He looked albino in the cold air. His skin looked pasty, and it seemed something was wearing his skin. He seemed weak, and I knew he would die, but he still shot for the heads of the viral infected demons. Kelly shot with both her guns continuously. She stopped abruptly, and she dropped both the clips from her guns and reloaded them with another nine bullets.  
  
My Uzi 2.5 gave out halfway through the battle. I threw it in front of me pissed. That was the best gun I ever used, and I wished I had had ammo for them. I grabbed a Colt Python from the back of my belt. It fired, and with every shot I took, a zombies head would blow of.  
  
Within thirty seconds of constant firing, they were still coming. We knew we were done for, but something happened, that I didn't see coming. Andy stood up quickly. He jogged over to the zombies, despite his weakness. "No!" Sarah screamed, but her scream was ignored. We stopped firing when Andy Carn heroically jumped into the crowd of monsters.  
  
He screamed as they took bites from his stomach, arms, and legs. They all dove for pieces of him. Through the mounds of people, Andy screamed, "Get the fuck down!" We all crouched down, and a large explosion slammed us into the door. I had jumped on Kelly before the grenade went off, to protect her from whatever it was that was coming. Our ears rang and blood ran boiling hot.  
  
Through the smoke, we see an entire mass of dead zombies. Arms, heads, legs, and torsos covered the ground in confusion. They were all dead, but so was Andy. A man we hardly knew just saved our lives when we were staring death in its ugly face. We were alive and couldn't believe it. And just then, the doors to the mansion slid open without any of us touching it. We stared into an empty hotel lobby.  
  
"Shit!" Kelly shouted. "It couldn't have just fucking opened a few goddamn seconds ago! I want to get out of here and go home!" I looked around the mansion, and realized it resembled a hotel so much. Slowly we all stepped in. I let out a sigh, and thought up a little prayer. Yet, before my mind could say "Amen," the doors beyond us slammed shut, and we were trapped in the mansion. 


	8. Unlocked

Chapter Eight: Unlocked  
  
   
  
Kelly turned around and pounded on the metal door. It didn't budge at all. Somewhere from high up in the hotel-like mansion came a prerecorded speaker announcement, "Security System Activated." I knew that sound all to well. That recorded voice is the same one every building I've gone into has for when the Self Destruct Sequence is activated.  
  
"Shit!" Kelly cursed. She knew there was no way out, just as everyone else did. Cameras hung from the walls mockingly. They were always looking at us. I grabbed the map from Sarah and glanced at it. Sarah said, "I wonder if this mansion has a map of its own…" We looked around and agreed. This place was enormous.  
  
"This place looks a lot more like a hotel than a mansion," Richard uttered. His voiced echoed a bit in the quiet room. I looked at the map and read to myself, "Umbrella: Sheraton Estate." I smiled lightly and handed it to Kelly. I pointed to the name of the mansion and she giggled.  
  
"You think it looks like a hotel, eh?" Kelly began, "Well did you know Umbrella bought a line of Sheraton Hotels last August. Well, what do you know? We are in Umbrella's Sheraton Estate!" She laughed again, but it seemed a bit hysterical. Richard looked around the lobby and noticed something at the desk.  
  
He ran over to the main desk, and jumped behind it. Richard grabbed the mouse to a black computer, and whispered, "I can shut it off." He stares into the computer, studying the contents of the glowing screen. After minutes of silence, waiting for Richard, he shouted, "Fuck! They bugged their hard drive. We can't do anything with this except for play CDs and lock more doors! Fucking Umbrella."  
  
My mind screamed with fury, but I hardly knew why. "Are we going to get home anytime soon?" Sarah asked jokingly. Richard's frown turned to a soothing smile. "You've read my mind," he said playfully.  
  
Kelly said, "You aren't serious, are you?" He shot her a confused look. He forced a grin and replied, "Serious about what? Leaving?" She nodded and he looked even more confused.  
  
"Why the hell wouldn't we leave?" he asked timidly. I could tell he feared that she might have a good reason why we shouldn't venture through the house. She slyly answered, "Do you know how big this place is?" Richard shook his head and she continued, "Neither do I. Do you know anything about this place?" Richard shook his head again and she continued, "Well, then you think we should wander around in it if we don't know a single thing about it?"  
  
Richard sighed and responded, "What is it you think we should do then?" Kelly smiled demonically. She took in a long breath and began speaking, "We do know something about this place that is obvious. There are more rooms here than any other complex. So far, since Umbrella dropped me here, I've seen four complexes, and I can tell this will be the biggest. When we deal with a very large, enclosed space, we know it can hold a lot more people and…well… creatures than a smaller one. What we need to do before running off into this trap, is to do what Umbrella wants us too."  
  
Richard stared at her blankly. He was amazed, yet curious. He quickly pondered aloud, "And what is it they want us to do?" She smiled even wider and looked at him like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Now, why would Umbrella have a computer, where they know we would find it, that has the ability to lock doors?"  
  
Richard looked baffled, but to break the confused silence, he uttered, "Because they want us to lock the doors," as he bent down and pushed the enter button on the computer.  
  
"No!" Sarah and Kelly screamed in unison. Richard tilted his head to left and they Kelly screamed as the front doors burst open with more viral carriers spewing in, "You dumb fuck! Were you listening to me? Umbrella knew we would lock the upstairs doors for our protection, so they bugged it to unlock the doors. You just let the monster from the cage!"  
  
The room spun in circles. The stairs became blocked off from an assortment of hunters, zombies, hellhounds, spiders, and the advanced lickers series. The hunters screamed while the spiders crawled up the wall viciously. The zombies, hellhounds, and advanced lickers slowly approached us. The AL (advanced lickers) moved in quickly. Their sharp talons oozed with the unnatural T-Virus.  
  
"I am so going to need therapy after this shit," Sarah whispered before she opened fire. No one else shot their gun, and Sarah soon stopped. There were too many… way too many. We had nowhere at all to go, but it was Kelly who came up with the brilliant idea. She reached into her sock and pulled out a knife. Before I knew what was happening, she tossed me the Swiss Army Knife. I drew the blade and she smiled slightly.  
  
She said, "You were always the best at this. You think you can fix the chandelier." I looked up at the brightly lit chandelier dangling from the white painted ceiling. With all my strength, swiftness, and accuracy, I threw the knife and sliced the strong roping holding the bright electric chandelier.  
  
We took off for the door on the other side of the room. The white light fell to the ground loudly. It blocked the monsters from where we stood, but they slowly climbed over. The broken light was just a diversion, yet it worked. We advanced towards the door, but when Richard turned the handle frantically, it didn't open. "We're fucked!" Richard shouted scornfully. Kelly pushed him aside, and knocked on the door. She went up and down it banging her knuckles against the wood.  
  
Richard boomed, "OK! I don't think anyone is home. Is there a plan B?" Kelly giggled and shot the wood about an inch above the doorknob. It flew off, and the door swung open roughly. My mind thought, "God, she's so smart." We ran down the hall, only to find it infested with moaning zombies.  
  
I thought it over and began firing my gun. My hand flew backwards after every monsters head left its body in gore. The gun was powerful and did its job well. Yet, after my seven shots were up, my gun was useless.  
  
One word summed up the situation; fuck. There was nothing at all that could be done. We were surrounded even worse than we had been minutes ago. I searched frantically around the hall looking for something; anything. I looked at Kelly's horrified pale face, and shook my head roughly. She nodded, smiled, and did what I didn't want her to do.  
  
She ran to the nearest camera and torn out the lens. She reached into her bra and took out a long slip of metal. Quickly and cautiously, she slipped it inside the hole where the lens once was situated. Before Richard burst his gun into a fit of raging shots, and before Sarah passed out from the stink that surrounded her, a loud whistled ran throughout the whole compound.  
  
I was on the verge of hitting Kelly and kissing her. The zombies all fell down in their spots, and their movements were halted. "Run! We only have a couple minutes!" Kelly screamed. Richard ran down the hallway in utter confusion. Kelly was directly behind him, and, yet again, I was saving Sarah's fragile life. My hand crashed against her face, turning it red. She opened her eyes and knew what was happening.  
  
My head raced with thoughts. Kelly was so stupid. We could have fought them off. Our legs moved quickly and uncontrollably. I thought again of my quiet home. I thought of my older brother Willy and his little blonde daughter. I smiled as I ran, for the remembrance of my family was wonderful. I quickly wondered where Willy is on this island, and if he is alive.  
  
We ran and ran through halls lined with doors. A door with the word "maintenance" written across it burst open with broomsticks, which, in our fear, we blasted to bits. Kelly rubbed her shoulder against the wall as she ran. "We have to find a safe room," Richard bellowed. We all nodded, and a steel door ahead of us loomed closer. We knew opening it was worth a try. It swung open easily, but felt heavy. The room was a lot bigger than any other, and it didn't fit in the odd hotel setting.  
  
The door slammed shut when we all entered. It was brightly lit in the front area, but the back was hard to see. In an instant, everything went berserk. The loud whistle ended, and a group of moans filled our ears. The zombies were regaining their senses, just as I suspected. But what I didn't expect was Richard to whip out two guns and place them against my head and the head of the beautiful Kelly alongside me.  
  
1 OK. I want you both to explain how the fuck you know everything on this island. Mike, how did you know about the anti-virus being inside the camera? Kelly, how the fuck did you how to stun all the zombies in place?  
  
You really wanna know? Kelly questioned back, A few weeks ago, just after we were caught, we escaped Umbrella. We knew they would find us. We knew we did last long, so we never left the compound. Mike and I found a closet and locked ourselves inside, but as we made love in there, something caught our eye.  
  
Sarah's eyes opened widely. Her face turned white. What did you find in the closet? she asked.  
  
Kelly winced, yet smiled and said, We found a stack of emails between the famous Birkin Brothers.  
  
I know them! , Richard began, William Birkin created the G-Virus, and his little bro is the one who brought us here!  
  
As I was saying Kelly began again, the emails told us everything we need to know. They have set up bugs in the cameras to our advantage. Sarah question why they would do that, and Kelly answered her question slyly; William Birkin is on the island somewhere right now. We read that he came to the island on the first run, and mostly likely is still here making sure everything is running smoothly.  
  
Richard slowly put both of the guns down. I'm sorry, he whispered, I'm sorry. We nodded and all decided in our minds that it was time to go to the other side of the room. The darker side of the room appeared menacing to us. We all edged closer guns at hand, and that was when a bullet rang out from afar.  
  
This bullet wasn't from any of our guns. This sole bullet rammed itself into Kelly's stomach, just missing her ribcage. It lodged itself right towards her straight spine, throwing her backwards. Her breathing stopped, and her cold eyes gleamed up at me. My girlfriend was dead.  
  
   
  
   
  
Author's Note: I am very, very sorry to have posted such a poor chapter. The only reason I even put it up was so to make room for the final three chapters. The last three will be most definitely the greatest. I am deeply sorry for this chapter, but it leads up to the conclusion of One Long Night greatly…  
  
~~Carlos Francis Valentine~~ 


	9. Out of the Darkness, Into the Moonlight

Chapter Nine: Out of the Darkness, Into the Moonlight  
  
I glanced up reluctantly at the shooter, but no one was in sight. I immediately collapsed to my knees and moaned. I began to sob and hold Kelly's delicate hand. A bullet hole near her stomach oozed blood and a small amount of excretion. My mouth drooled saliva a bit as my eyes began to tear. I cried so hard for her. She was still dead, though.  
  
I never thought it'd happen like this. "Oh my God!" Richard shouted. He ran from his original position, and I knew he had run off to find the gunman. I felt dizzy and disoriented. I held my eyes shut, but it didn't help. Every time I reopened my eyelids, Kelly was dead in a pool of her own blood.  
  
"Please, help her, Sarah," I tried to say. She seemed to understand, but she just began to sob, too. I felt my eyes burn. That was when I lost control of things. I stood up, took out my gun, and made a screeching noise trying to scream. I fired bullet after bullet in the many depths of the room, yet I made sure it didn't come close to Sarah, or anywhere near the body of my lover.  
  
I stopped firing right after I heard a crash of glass, and the obvious sound of rushing water fill the room. I slowly set my gun down, as a few streams of blue water covered the ground at my feet. The next moment of my life was the worst of all. Standing in a wet room with a tear stricken Sarah and the dead body of my girlfriend was bad, but the shrieks and screams of a released tyrant-like monster made the awful setting worse.  
  
"Don't wait, just run!" Sarah screamed, and took off out of the room. She stopped and turned around.  
  
"We have to go, now," she hollered at me. I shook my head and crouched down next to the slump of body on the floor. I stroked Kelly's hair briefly, but my hand was soon tugged out. "Come on!" Sarah Mick began, "You've come back for me twice, and I'm about to return the favor." I shook my head roughly again; I can tell she was on the verge of leaving without me.  
  
The monster screamed loudly again, and we both heard its footsteps through the wall. I must have shot through the thin walling and into the glass cage of the ferocious beast. "OK. Now this is the part where you don't act so stupid and run!" she implied loudly. This time I got up and took off, never looking back at the still beautiful face of my dear Kelly.  
  
Just as we ran through the dark, gloomy section of the odd room, something big jumped through the wall. Our hearts pounded against our hard chests. I didn't look back, unlike Sarah, who basically screamed her head off, leading the monster to us. I knew it was probably another of the Nemesis series. I helped free prisoners from a cellblock in the Phyllis Umbrella Testing facility, and there I had fought of a very shocking Nemesis type.  
  
The thoughts raced through my skull just as the creature's feet had raced against the hard ground. My legs felt like melting butter after running through random door after another at such a grueling pace. Kelly's beautiful face smiled in my thoughts, but soon disappeared in a flash of red liquid.  
  
I dove into the door Sarah just opened. I smashed my ribs against the floor and thought I had broken one. In seconds, our breathing slowed, but the door was rammed into violently by the beast outside.  
  
The door bulged in, revealing marks where sharp claws had sunk into. It roared and screamed, and I found myself holding onto the screaming Sarah. "It's going to break in!" she uttered intensely. I searched the small safe room, and found another box. The box resembled the one in the Wingardom Facility we had started on with the guns packed inside.  
  
I pushed Sarah off me and ran to the box. I thought a prayer and kicked off the top. What I saw was beyond belief. Instead of seeing herbs, guns, or even ammo. I saw a ladder leading into darkness. I slapped Sarah across her forehead to get her attention, which I succeeded at getting, and showed her my amazing find.  
  
"After you," she said after the screaming virus carrier kicked at the door, yet again. It was on the verge of breaking off when my lower torso was down. Just as my head disappeared down the hole, the metallic door burst open and a large Tyrant-like creature with tentacles and talons started towards Sarah.  
  
"Michael!" she shrieked. My hands shook, and my palms leaked with sticky sweat. She aggressively jumped down, scraping across the sides. She plunged into pitch-blackness with me. The only light came from the small hole many feet upward. The beastly thing screamed. I heard the steps, and the dripping sound of the liquid-like virus seeping on the floor. It was silent and motionless for a few moments, but something slowly began to slide down the hole. For a second I thought it to be another snake creature, but I soon noticed what it truly was.  
  
"Run!" Sarah Mick shouted. I grabbed her by her wrist and took off bolting into random darkness. The things long, dripping blue virus-filled tentacles quickly began to come up on us. I felt it brush against my swaying hair viciously. It was coming close enough to dig itself into my soft neck. The tentacle abruptly stopped, no long extending.  
  
We slowed down in fear of smashing into a wall. The once bright light had vanished, and I couldn't see my hand that I place a foot in front of my wandering eyes. "Mike? Was that you?" Sarah asked. I had no way of answering. I didn't no what she was talking. She uttered lightly, "God damn it, Mike. If that's you messing with my hair, then knock it off!"  
  
"What the hell is she talking about?" I thought. Then I felt it, something brushed past my head, and that something screeched. "Oh, fuck! Bats!" Sarah hollered. I didn't dare fire my gun, understanding the consequences. This room we are in could have had ricocheting walls.  
  
I grabbed my pistol and grabbed hold of the barrel. With my other hand, I felt around for Sarah. I found her hand with my own. It was wet with what I thought was sweat. I swung the bottom of the gun around madly into the air. It whipped the hell out of a few of the flying rodents, but I could obviously tell pistol-whipping the bats wasn't going to get us far.  
  
Before I could take off running into the unknown distance blindly, Sarah dashed ahead. Our hands were still locked, but I could sense I was slipping away from the wet, yet soft, hand of Sarah Mick.  
  
I felt my eyes begin to adjust to the darkness slightly. The screeching of bats all around us was like millions of shrill screams. They brushed against us, but never biting or scratching. That was my biggest fear; getting the slightest nick on my flesh and skin by a viral mutated organism.  
  
Just as my eyes were beginning to become accustom to the dark, Sarah brutally tripped over something. Her hand only tightened onto mine, and I came down roughly with her. Although, I didn't hit the ground, neither did she. We kept on falling.  
  
For the five seconds or less we fell, it felt like eternity. We heard the crashing of waves, and felt an odd sea breeze. My eyes only open for a half second, and instead of looking down, I was staring upward at the bright moon, stars, and I thought for a moment I had seen far off nebulas.  
  
The crashing ocean water merely felt like soft concrete. We went down low, and by the way she was kicking violently, she had swallowed a gulp of salty water. She slowly began to stop kicking and calm down.  
  
Her hand slowly slipped away from my own. I opened my eyes for an instant and saw a bright redness floating around sadistically in the dark water. I realized the odd wetness on her hand was blood, and before I took off for the ocean top to gaze at the star night sky, I wondered how managed to achieve getting such a wound.  
  
After seconds of harsh, intense swimming for life, I took a great breath of fresh, nighttime-air. I had my head above the water for a few moments, but I noticed something odd. "Where the hell is Sarah?" I thought, "Shit." I swam back down, but searching for the girl was nearly impossible. The water was as dark as the unusual room we were just in.  
  
Even though my mind was flashing thoughts of Sarah drowning, something had led me straight to her. The blood streaming from her freshly opened skin upon her hand was urging me toward her. I reached through the blood, and found her bony wrist. She felt dead, but by thumping on her wrist, I knew her heart was beating.  
  
I swam the best I could to the top, and felt the need for oxygen. I thought to myself just before I reached the top, "Shit, if I need air, I wonder what it would be like if she was conscious."  
  
We burst through the water top and out into the night. I took in a well- deserved breath of air, and immediately began swimming as hard as possible to the shore nearby. In less than a minute I had her to the rocky ground that had a huge mountain above it. I rolled her to her back frantically. With both hands, I pushed down on her chest, forcing her lungs to let out air. I counted to three while doing it, then pressed my lips against hers and blew into her mouth. "Come on!" I thought to myself, "Don't do this to me!"  
  
I repeated the maneuver a few times until I caught the signs of life she coughed up nasty ocean water and vomited. She began to cough uncontrollably for a few seconds. She regained her five senses, and she turned to face me.  
  
"What happened?" she asked me desperately with wonder. I smiled and rubbed her reddish hair. I pointed to the rocky straight drop ahead of us, then to the water. She coughed and laughed at the same time. I wanted to hold my smile, but my mind flashed to the depiction of my girlfriend sitting in a pool of her own dark red blood.  
  
The thought of the blood made me think of Sarah's wounded hand. I pointed to her hand and by the puzzled look on my face I could tell she understood. "When I jumped through that darn box with the ladder, I must have nicked my hand on the side of it. I'm not completely sure, but it's only a little scrape. Don't worry about it, Mike."  
  
I nodded my head and looked up. I once again used my hands to signal the words I wished I had the ability to use. First, I pointed to her, and then I pointed to the top of the rocky cliff. I started to play charades and made believe I was climbing. She giggled and stated, "What a show! I think I'll be able to climb this little thing."  
  
I smiled back at her and thought, "Little? Damn cliff looks like Everest to me!" Nevertheless, I thought of what lay ahead. When I first arrived on this island, I thought I was dead no matter what. Now the only thing keeping me going is the fact that I have something I didn't think I would. I have hope. Kelly didn't make it, but she got damn near close. I will make it.  
  
The motivation my mind gave me was just what I needed to stay alive a few more needy hours. I started the long climb we faced by grabbing onto the side of the sea cliff. I lifted myself up with my unyielding strength. Sarah Mick began her climb, as well, just beside me.  
  
For twenty minutes we climbed nonstop, getting further and further from the safety of the ground. It seemed like our "cliffhanging" had been going on for hours. Our hands were growing tired from the endless pain of the killer climb. We were about three quarters of the way up when we heard it.  
  
The beastly monster we encountered earlier, just before the dark room. The tyrant-like thing was coming towards us at a slow pace from the side of the cliff. It screamed and had its tentacles flaring around violently. Its hands and feet clung to the wall tightly gripped. I could tell it wasn't very happy.  
  
Sarah whispered, "Go. Mike, you better be a pretty fast fucking climber!" 


	10. Cliffhanging

Chapter Ten: Cliffhanging  
  
My hand reached up as high as I could make it go to grab a jagged rock and pull myself up. I didn't look at Sarah; I just focused on the rocks ahead of me. My gaze was torn from the top of the cliff. The beast cupped to the rocky wall began making its way towards us. It was slowly approaching. it was toying with us. It wanted us to run, but we knew we didn't stand a chance.  
  
Sarah, who was ahead of me, knocked me back into reality. Her shoe had slipped off her white sock covered foot and hit me square in the head. I gasped out with pain. I ignored it and began moving my hands up with cliff.  
  
We advanced toward the top at a slow pace. I glance towards the giant tyrant beast, then down at the water. We were extremely far above the ground that it was sickening. My queasiness went away by my ever-growing fear of dying right here, right now.  
  
"We aren't going to make it! Just blow it to bits!" Sarah shouted loudly. I knew she was right, but I just kept climbing. She stopped and drew her weapon. Shot after shot fired, I could hear the thing howl. For half a second, I glanced over to the creature, and I finally took in and saw all of its mangled features.  
  
Greenish tubes from its back seemed to be roughly implanted in its head. Long tentacles came from each of its shoulders. They swung back and forth madly. The creature's skin was gray and green with decay. The most obvious abnormal feature about the tyrant was its completely massive size. It towered above us on land, and it cast a giant shadow on us on the side of this cliff.  
  
I tore my gaze away from hideous monster and continued to climb. It goes so close, but the firing of Sarah's gun was suppressing it slightly. I began to fire, but it wasn't Sarah or my fire that helped the beast off us. There was an unknown third shooter somewhere above us. He was armed with what sounded like my old Uzi 2.5 on automatic.  
  
My colt python began to slip from my one-handed sweaty grip. The monster knew it better catch its prey, for it got too strong to play with before it dined. The tyrant bended its arms, and the thing jumped.  
  
Time stopped. The beast floated in the air when I fired the perfect shot. It had come within two feet of Sarah, in midair, who was slightly ahead of me, and close enough to knock me of my not so tight grip. I fired a single shot, like any other, that embedded itself through the beast's neck. It came out the other side, spewing dark monstrous blood everywhere, nicking the tyrants head.  
  
Just as the shot was perfect it got even better. The bullet hammered itself into the purplish tube from its back to head. The tube split in two, and each end flung around, sending malevolent juices everywhere.  
  
The bullet seemed to force the beast away while it was airborne. Its talons came within mere inches of Sarah's charming, young-girl face. I didn't even notice she was screaming until the unknown shooter stopped firing. I thought it would be Richard, but as I looked up, all I saw was the back of a man walking away slowly.  
  
Sarah stopped screaming. She looked down at me as she breathed heavily. "We are alive? How the fu-" she didn't finish her rant, for a loud, ear piercing scream filled the ocean air. "Shit!" Keep going, we're almost there."  
  
My arms felt as if they had been stretched to the limit. I was in such agony, and just before Sarah grabbed onto the top of the damned cliff, something I didn't see coming happened. First, we heard the cracking of herd rock. Then, the next thing I knew, a large gray and brown boulder had broken off the cliff. Sarah had been attached to it tightly, and she screamed as it broke off.  
  
The moment I heard the light sound, I had a gut sensation something was going to happen. On instinct, I dived straight into the air randomly. It felt as if there was an avalanche happening, in the air. Something locked around my neck tightly, and I feared it was a viral infected mutant.  
  
I slammed painfully into a rock bulging from the side of the cliff. I felt whatever it was on my back moan in pain. "I thought those things didn't feel pain," I thought. I reached deep into my pocket as I slid down the wall. Frantically searching.  
  
My fingers found just what I needed; my Swiss Army Knife. With enough force to take away any life, I drove it straight through the rock. When I stopped my fall, the thing on my back slid down, and grasped onto my ankle tightly. With my free left hand, I pointed my gun straight at the head of the creature, only to see. Kelly?  
  
My mind burned, and I felt my grip loosen on the knife and the heavy Colt Python. She smiled and said, "I love you, baby.." I blinked my eye, and everything changed. I saw the dirty, sweaty face of the horrified Sarah Mick. My grip tightened and I thought two things at one. "She was so beautiful and stunning," I also thought, "How the hell can this knife pierce rock?  
  
I glanced up at the rock and realized something extraordinary. The large rock turned out to be a large tree. It looked like rock for it was black with algae, mold, and fungus. My knife pierced through it perfectly. I felt everything spin. I felt sick.  
  
Too much had been happening at once. Everything hit me, as I dangled, like an oncoming storm. I thought of my girlfriend dead, the tyrant being released just before Richard ran off, us running from the beast, hiding in the darkness as we ran, falling into the ocean, climbing the cliff, and now hanging off the cliff with a scared red haired woman hanging onto my ankles all in a heartbeat.  
  
I felt my hand slip away from the knife; I knew there was no use trying to live, so why not drop to my death right here. right now. With much strength of thought, I pulled my mind together.  
  
I swung my legs and body back and forth, until Sarah was on the verge of letting go. My body stayed in the position of a hatching egg. Rocking to each side. Sarah let go of my ankles and landed atop the tree swiftly.  
  
"Grab hold of my hand!" she shouted over to me. I looked down at my watery grave. All I need to do to end the suffering is to drop. Just let my fingers slide of this knife. Just then, I felt the knife begin to bend, obviously failing to support the murderous weight anymore.  
  
The closer I got to death, as the knife bended; I realized I was beginning to have the odd urge of life and savoring it. "Take my god damn hand!" I reached over and she grabbed my hand strongly, almost bringing me to pain. She tugged me onto the slippery black tree.  
  
I wrapped my arms around Sarah Mick in a thanking gesture. My face melted in her shoulder, and the next thing I knew, I was sobbing. I was crying into her shirt relentlessly.  
  
I thought of Kelly's darling face and voice. I thought of going to her funeral after this. I even thought of Sarah attending my own funeral if she got out after this. I thought to myself, "I am going to make sure Sarah gets off this island. no matter what."  
  
She rubbed my sweaty, bloody hair, and she caressed my back soothingly. "Shhhh. it's okay. Don't be afraid. We'll both get off this island together. We'll be with Richard, Kelly, and even that nice Andy Carn man. We'll fly off and kick the living shit out of that Birkin that sent us here."  
  
I began to smile. I pulled my red from sobbing face from Sarah's comforting embrace. She looked down at me and tapped my nose. She whispered to me, "Now load your god damn gun and let's make it happen."  
  
Just then as we were about to begin our grueling climb, we here a banging noise from above, then a howl of laughter. "Who is up there?" Sarah shouted. There was no answer, but something fell from the top. We ducked down in fear, but it turned out to be something unimaginable.  
  
"Rope!" Sarah hollered to no one in particular. She grabbed it and tugged. "It's stable," she bellowed aloud to me. I smiled even wider than before. She grabbed the rope and pulled her self up, grabbing a handful at a time. I followed close behind, attempting to keep up with the fast-paced Sarah Mick.  
  
We came to the top of the well-anticipated cliff. My gun was out immediately, pointing the direction I should depart in. The only thing on the paved cliff top was a large letter 'H' with a helicopter in the middle of it. "Hey Mike. I think we are going home."  
  
I looked at her and smiled a slightly hysterical smile. Nothing could ruin this moment. Nothing. We approached the helicopter slowly, as if the ability to run was forgotten. We climbed aboard and sat down in the leather seats. Comfort rushed through us. Sarah obviously knew how to fly a chopper, for she was fiddling with knobs and buttons. Her skin looked like paper, it was so pale, yet covered with sweat.  
  
I looked down at mine; it matched hers. My skin had looked pasty and unreal. Yet, just then, I noticed something. I shook Sarah's arm, which distracted her from her work on the helicopter. But then I heard a rumbling as if the helicopter was taking off. "HA! It's working!" she shouted happily. It rose off the ground slightly and I pointed to my seat, her seat, and then one empty one.  
  
"Oh. Fuck!" she bellowed through the loud roaring of the chopper. She pulled a lever, and the helicopter touched ground. The swinging blades slowed and began to reach a full halt. "Goddamn it, Richard?" she asked.  
  
I nodded my head. "We can't leave without him," I thought. We jumped out of the helicopter and landed on the hard concrete. For the first time in a while, I noticed cameras sticking on poles above the ground. This entire place must have millions of dollars put in for the cameras.  
  
But then again, I knew it was Umbrella. They had all the money they needed. Before I left the chopper, I opened the glove compartment and reached inside. I pulled out a small, square pack of matches. I slipped them in my sock without thinking why.  
  
We walked to this small door bulging out of the hard ground we stood upon. I breathed heavily with fear; I hated not knowing what lay ahead of me. We were merely feet from the door when something on the rooftop screamed that familiar evil scream. The tyrant series beast was standing on the other end of the concrete clearing.  
  
Just when we thought it was going to take off towards us, something strange began happening to it. It fell onto the ground and looked as if it were having some kind of convulsion. Blood streamed from its widely opened mouth. It made noises of the devil. Our eyes wouldn't be stripped from the tyrant. They were glued to its unyielding bizarre actions.  
  
Our mouths remained silent, except for the small squeaky noise I let out of my dead vocal cords when the monster stood up. When it was all the way positioned in its stand, it looked very different than the way it looked on the cliff. Its left arm stretched just inches from the solid ground.  
  
From the inside of the elbow to the shoulder of the monster was a circular eyeball. The pupil darted nervously up, down, left, and then right. It stopped spinning and stared directly at our startled bodies. We felt naked and exposed to the beast. It began to ran amazingly quickly at us. Its left arm raised in attack.  
  
"Go!" Sarah urged to me. I dove through the door speedily. Sarah slammed it shut, dead bolted it, and moved the nearest table against it. She moved fast, but didn't stop moving. She was so queer. One moment she cannot move at all, and I'd have to help her move. Other times she is so amazing; she could stop time with her power. I was fascinated with her.  
  
Sarah grabbed my wrist and pulled me down a long hallway. My eyes darted around my surroundings. We were in a dimmed hallway. Halls, doors, windows and cameras were all that was on this island.  
  
She didn't stop running, and I had to keep up. It was about five minutes of running down twisting hallways. My legs began to burn as much as my stomach had. Something caught my eye, and I abruptly stopped our long dash.  
  
A brightly colored door with the words "The Game of Four" written in oddly shaped letters. Sarah turned the peculiar molded doorknob slowly. She pushed hardly against the heavy door. It finally budged, and we both found ourselves inside a pitch-black room, with the only light coming from the open door. Sarah was holding onto the knob, keeping the heavy door from slamming shut, and leaving us locked in a lightless room.  
  
We breathed slightly, and for a few seconds, all you could here were our rising and falling chests. But that noise was broken by an unknown voice.  
  
"Hello survivors!" the voice began. It made both of us jump with fear. Sarah's grip on the doorknob broke, and we found ourselves locked in a completely dark room. Sarah let out a small scream of terror. I hugged her tightly, just as she once embraced me.  
  
The voice continued, "I am Michael Birkin! You may have gotten my little note; I am the creator of this island. I put all the money my brother gave to me into this facility. My older brother William Birkin created the G- Virus, and is the reason for the downfall of Raccoon City. I am the one who shot that stupid little girl. I am the one who dropped the rope down to you. I helped you up the mountain only because I wanted you to test out this game I just finished. It is 'The Game of Four. And I am also the one who has Richard at gunpoint, but I have agreed to let you all free to fly away, only if you win the game. Good luck and enjoy the game!"  
  
Kelly began shaking wildly. She felt cold to the touch. Just then the lights came on. The room was unpainted and had a steel door with the words "Level One: Jungle" written across. The voice of Michael Birkin came on again to say a few more words.  
  
"By the way. There is another survivor I found lurking around. He was taken here before you, and he is the last of his crew. Move to the walls, I am dropping him into the room!"  
  
Confused and scared, we hugged our bodies against colorless wall. The ceiling looked like an elevator door. It seemed to open like an elevator would open, but much faster, and it closed just as fast.  
  
But I didn't even notice it closed. I was to stunned to even notice. My mind was distracted by the thought of whom the man that fell from the roof onto the hard floor was. He sat up, and rubbed his sore back he crashed to the ground upon. He had short hair, a black eye, bloodstains on his pale white shirt and blue-jean pants, and looked like he was in his mid- thirties.  
  
"M-my name i-is W-Wilson Huchinson-n," he breathed. He gasped for oxygen and couldn't stop panting, as if he had run miles and fell in on us.  
  
"Well, Wilson," Sarah looked at him, "Looks like you outta get your gun ready and catch your breath, cause when these doors open we are going to need to play a little game." She loaded her gun fearlessly, and stood in front of the door, waiting for it to reveal what lay on the other side. 


	11. The Game of Four

Chapter Eleven: The Game of Four  
  
I didn't know whether it was my mind or my eyes that had been playing this fucked up trick on me. We were going to play a game, and it wasn't just Sarah and me. We also had a stowaway; an intruder; a breaker of the peace, and his name was Wilson Huchinson. The final thing scratching at my mind was Sarah. He body was shaking almost hysterically, but her face was looking tough as nails. She intrigued me so much.  
  
Three players in a "game of four." I was confused, scared, and for the first time tonight I was tired. I went through so much, and I have so much more to go through. It sure as hell was one long night.  
  
That was when the next few hours of the night opened its door. The door fell as if it went down a hole, which it did. But I didn't have time to think what was going on, for something scurried along the floor of the giant room we stood a few feet from.  
  
The large open room was filled with a trees, canopies, rocky soil, and things filled to their bones with a purple virus that depletes the soul from their body, yet keeps its brain working. "Keeps its brain working until it decays into mush," I though just before I heard a howl that sounded like the scream of a jungle animal.  
  
I took out my gun and checked my ammo. I had nothing in there, and thank God I checked. I loaded it with my third to last clip. Wilson took something out of his trousers that looked like an automatic gun of some sort. I'm an expert at weaponry, but I hadn't a clue what this was. It was definitely old.  
  
Sarah uttered, "Let's play this game." We took seven to eight paces until I heard the first shot go off, and the thump of something that was high up fell to the ground filled our ears. I looked down at a missive bird with a hole through its chest area oozing with thick red blood.  
  
The blood was too thick to be normal. It was gagulated, which blood didn't do until the thing dies and is decomposing. Sarah didn't make the perfect shot into the flying monster, but it was Wilson. Sarah's words rang through my mind before I blew the head off of another swooping bird.  
  
Just before I took the remaining life away from the creature, I saw its cold black eyes. The reason I didn't feel pity for anything here is because they have the intention of taking my life. Yet, seeing a little girl or boy infected with the virus makes me think about how sorry I feel for the innocent people that I have no choice but to kill for they will kill me if I don't.  
  
Our guns roared with fire as the jungles woods came to life. Birds came from the sky, snakes came from holes in the ground they borrowed, (I had enough snakes for one night) and spiders five times the size of normal spiders climbed down the many trees in swarms of hundreds. We began firing and pressing forward, trying to hold the creatures off.  
  
Wilson stopped to reload his gun, which I noticed was obviously an automatic, and must have taken one second to long. One of the beastly spiders pounced into the air, and mad it inches from his face. In the nick of time, Sarah threw something towards Wilson. I couldn't make out what it was until it pierced through the flying spider and into a tree. It was an all to familiar knife. My knife.  
  
The spider burst open in purple juices when it splattered against the tree. I gave Sarah a confused look, and she scream through the ear splitting gunfire, "I yanked it outta the tree earlier, and bent it straight!" I nodded quickly and looked high into the dark green trees above us.  
  
My thoughts were hammered to hell when I felt some brush past my pant leg. My face's remaining colors were stripped away. I stomped down hardly on the ground, feeling very vulnerable. I felt something squish. I looked down at the dirty ground to see what it was. It was nothing more than a scurrying rat that probably wasn't infected, just there. I ran over to the tree my knife was jammed into. I yanked it out and the foul bloody remains of the spider fell to the ground. I slipped the knife into my unused left pocket and began shooting.  
  
In a few minutes of firing and slowly moving forward, like the devil showed his face, we all ran out of ammo at the same time. We looked at each other, wondering why the next person stopped shooting. In the moments it took us to load, everything moved in on us. The spiders hopped and scurried towards us, the snakes slithered by, and even a few wild boars came in with drooling bloody lips.  
  
They all made there way to us. We felt exposed and dead, and just before they attacked and killed us something began to roar furiously. The beasts seemed to back off, but Wilson planted the first bullet of his new clip into the head of the boar. It fell to the ground dead, lying in a pool of its own blood that gushed from the tiny hole between its eyes.  
  
Everything seemed to leave. The roar scared them off, but I wasn't relieved about the departure of all of those beasts. I was too busy wondering what the hell made that blood curdling noise. The roar ran throughout the jungle level once again. Only this time, it seemed closer. "What the heck was that noise?" Wilson said in a hushed voice.  
  
Sarah shushed him and in moments spoke out as well. "I don't know, and I sure as hell don't want too." I gave Wilson a dirty look, but I don't know why. For some reason I hated him because he looked so utterly calm. The way he asked what the noise was stumped me. Why was he calm in a life and death situation?  
  
We heard a rustling noise in the bushes ahead of us. We felt eyes watching us, waiting for us to be totally desperate. Just then a thought flashed through my head. "We need to go through three more of these goddamn things!"  
  
Wilson looked at me funny and asked, "Did you just say something?" I looked confused and Sarah answered for me.  
  
"He's mute and won't be saying much, now please be quiet." Wilson didn't seem to like being told what to do by a girl who was a lot younger than him. With his free hand he caressed her cheek. She threw it off her face and lifted up her gun to his sweaty head. "Look, if you ever fucking touch me again, I will have no problem killing you. I killed enough shit tonight I will do another!"  
  
"Wow, baby! You sure are tough for your age. How old are you? Seventeen? Twelve?" he joked.  
  
Just as Sarah looked at me and began to ask me to back her up and shoot him, but something cut her off with a roar that was right near us. Silence encoded us and Sarah let her guard down. Wilson jumped on top of her and knocked her gun away. I stood and watched, to dumbstruck to think straight. "Oh baby! You like this?" Wilson said as he rubbed her all over her chest and she scream for him to get the fuck off.  
  
Before I could run over and help her, something else seemed too. A large orange beast leapt from a heavy clump of bushes and stopped me in my advancing tracks to save Sarah. It slammed atop them both, but sent Wilson flying through the air.  
  
He screamed in fear and pain and his head landed hardly on a brown stump sticking from the ground. Everything Wilson saw faded to black, for the blow to the head rendered him unconscious.  
  
I finally realized what the beast that tackled him off the ground was. An orange animal with black stripes down its whole body advanced toward the knocked out body of Wilson. It was a viral infected tiger. I'd never seen anything like it. The animal was once beautiful and ruthless, but now it stood before us with a murderous stare that could stop a person like a deer in front of headlights.  
  
Its mouth drooled with blue and purple virus, and its teeth glowed in the dimly lit room with dark red blood. Its claws dug into the ground with each step. It was a few mere paces from its prey. The brightly color tiger bent its legs and jumped straight for Wilson. It landed atop him and swung its massive arms across his chest. Blood spewed into the air violently.  
  
I screamed for that mans life, and before I knew what happened, I fired my entire clip into the head of the beast. Its scalp blew off along with skull and bloody matter. It lay atop the most likely dead Wilson.  
  
I had felt hot tears fill my eyes. I blinked and they rolled down my cheeks, touching the corner of my mouth. I ignored the salty taste, and grabbed my gun. I didn't know what I intended to do with an obviously unloaded Magnum.  
  
"Why are you crying for him?" Sarah asked oddly. I sobbed and felt lost again. I tucked my gun into the waste of my bloody, dirty jeans. I wiped my tears away and turned my back to her, as I walked over to the dead body of the monstrous beast of a tiger and Wilson.  
  
I kicked the thing off him and looked at his face. I rubbed his hair off his face when I felt his chest rise and fall. I laughed happily and thought, "He's fucking alive! Thank you, God, he's alive!"  
  
I slapped the unconscious man back and forth across his face, and he came to. His eyes slowly began to open and he smiled. He whispered something only I could hear, and I smiled, too. I lifted him to his feet and embraced him.  
  
"What the hell? We should have left him to die, Mike!" Sarah bellowed fearlessly.  
  
Wilson responded, "This mans hearts isn't black like yours, bitch! Now I'm going to run through this level, and we can check my wounds later."  
  
Sarah smiled and retorted, "You're infected. There is no reason why I shouldn't have to put a bullet through your head right now." Sarah must have picked up her gun, for it was in her hand and aimed at Wilson. I stared them both, waiting for Wilson's replying remark. He finally said, "You aren't going to shoot me 'cause two people can't make it through this. You absolutely cannot!"  
  
Her gun seemed to weigh and extra ten pounds just then because she put it down into her pocket. Her berretta was as sweaty as my Magnum was, but it wasn't nearly as empty. I reloaded while Sarah stared at Wilson, who was stripping off his shirt. He revealed ten deep cuts across his belly and chest. "This does hurt, and I would like to beat this goddamn level and get outta here!" he said quickly. I nodded, and noticed Sarah was hardly breathing. She was suddenly completely spooked, and I noticed why in seconds. The sound of a thousand tiny footsteps was heard, and we knew the large tarantulas knew the T-Virus filled tiger was dead.  
  
"Run. now!"  
  
Both of us followed Sarah's order and ran through the thick wooded jungle. Spiders covered the ground at our thumping feet. One leapt onto my pant leg and began crawling quickly up to my face. I made an odd noise from my throat, and Wilson brush the eight-legged thing off my shirt roughly.  
  
I nodded my thanks, but he didn't see me. He began running faster than both of us, and even got ahead of Sarah. She didn't seem to think it was wise of him to do that, for blood oozed from his wounds, and splashed the ground. The blood drew the hungry creatures from the other side of the oddly shaped room towards us. The only thing that was a major threat to us was the wild boars.  
  
The large spiders were semi-easy to dodge, but the boars came out of nowhere along side of us. Then, I saw something not to far through the trees. It was a large garage-like door. I felt my legs and stomach burn, but I never stopped running.  
  
Sarah and Wilson both touched their hands against the door to stop their quick dash, and were fiddling with the handle at the bottom of the door, trying to get it open with all their might.  
  
My heartbeat was going fast as I got close to the door. I dodged an exceptionally larger spider just as I noticed they had the sliding door up. I closed my eyes for a moment, and I had never been more thankful.  
  
Though, my thankfulness didn't last. A vine wrapped around my ankle viciously, and before my face could hit the ground Sarah screamed in terror. The hard ground shook my body.  
  
I felt weak and sick, but I didn't notice that the vine that wrapped my ankle was wrapping itself around my entire leg. When I looked down at it, I couldn't see my faded blue jeans. All I saw was green rope covering me. I pushed up with my hands, but as I began to pull my gun out with the intention of shooting one of my final rounds into the leafy vine, I notice what would very well be my death.  
  
The 'exceptionally large spider' I had dodged seconds earlier was making its way toward me. It moved quickly and I saw sticky, gooey stuff drip from its two fangs. I guess this wasn't the time to wonder if it was poisonous. I tried to get up, but every time I moved my leg, the plants grip tightened almost to the point of snapping the bones within my flesh.  
  
"Mike! Hang on, I'm coming!" shouted Wilson. I didn't hear him though. The spider hissed, and it was only a few inches from my face. I closed my eyes and waited for death, as I could feel the furry eight-legger's steady insect breath on my sweaty nose. Just as it began to sink its teeth through my pale flesh, the vine pulled me into the air.  
  
I hung upside down above all the spiders and boars and many other things I had recently shot in the jungle room. I breathed roughly, and though, "If I could scream 'get the fuck off me' right now, I'd be taking a heavy burden off my chest."  
  
The grip on my leg tightened, and I heard (and felt) my leg crack. It didn't hurt, but I didn't know what it felt like to have a bone broken. I reached down for my gun, but before I could grab it, I felt it slip out of the waist of my pants. I tried to reach for it before it went to far to the ground, but I missed it. Eight feet in the air, being held up by a phantom plant. how couldn't anything get worse.  
  
Sarah screamed loudly once again, and I heard my gun hit the ground. Fuck.  
  
I looked at my leg, and followed the vine with my eyes. It led me to see what the actual beast looked like. It was beautiful, yet massive. A round green, yellow, and orange decorative plant covered the ground, not to far from where Wilson and Sarah were running too.  
  
Sarah must have felt a lot for me because she began pumping round after round into the colorful plant. It screamed in pain, and that was the first time I noticed a large crease in the top of the thing I was directly above. The crease opened, revealing what looked like a hungry mouth. Razor sharp teeth cover the insides of its mouth.  
  
The thing felt none of the bullets pierce it, and it slowly began to lower me into its widely opened mouth. I was weaponless and defenseless against the beast. I writhed around back and forth, hoping for a way of escape.  
  
It then occurred to me what to do. I reached into my sock and pulled out a pack of matches. The very same matches I snatched from the helicopters glove compartment. I work quickly, lighting a match, then torching the rest of the pack. I tossed it onto the beast, just missing his mouth.  
  
I smiled as the fire spread across the thing's side, soon making it entirely ablaze. As my eyes twinkled starry from the fire, I realized how stupid that idea was. When this vine burned off, I'll be dropped into the open mouth of a burning monster.  
  
I dangled for a few more seconds above the fiery monster that not to long ago was a beautiful thing to be marveled at a distance.  
  
The vine snapped and I was flying straight down into fire. My eyes hammer shut, and I crashed down through the hot air. Wilson ran through the fiery beast, and I landed in his outstretched arms. He dived out of the fire, clutching my scared body.  
  
It all happened so fast, and I never opened my eyes. He carried me all the way to the opened door leading to the next level. I never opened my eyes until I heard the garage-like door slam shut. "Hey Mike, are you alright bud?" came the calm voice of Wilson. I looked into his familiar eyes and smiled.  
  
"Hey bro, I don't feel like playing this game anymore. I guess its effective, since I am infected and you're in pain and your gun is gone," Wilson said to me, ignoring Sarah's presence.  
  
"Don't expect him to respond, he's fucking mute!" Sarah shouted at Wilson. I smiled and began to stand up. She stared at me confusedly. I looked around the room and recognized it to be a bit like the room Sarah and I went into that turned out to be the Game Of Four.  
  
Yet, in this room, there were four doors. Each one had a label.  
  
The City The Desert The Sky and The Child of the East.  
  
The doors were large, just like the one we just went through. I reached into my left pocket and grabbed the knife. I lifted it up and put against Sarah's throat. I laughed hysterically and whispered, "Who ever told you the famous Michael Birkin couldn't talk, Miss Sarah Mick!"  
  
My cover was blown. 


	12. Truth Revealed

Chapter Twelve: Truth Revealed  
  
My eyes glowed menacingly for the first time that night, but my eyes were nothing compared to hers. Her eyes were sad, confused, and I knew my betrayal to her wasn't being taken lightly. Her mouth opened, and her beautiful looks flushed away from her pale face.  
  
"I-I-I don't understand? Michael, I held you in my arms. You cried with me. How could you do this? Where's Richard?" she begged.  
  
I smiled mockingly. "You don't look so great Miss Mick. Richard is fine. Kelly has him up at the helipad. And, just to let you know, I can do this to you very easily. Hardly anyone knows about my brother or myself because of your Resistance. You are the first of many to come here. So don't fuck with us, and I may consider not letting my brother, William, have his. way with you. Now, give me your gun."  
  
She began tearing, as she reached in for her gun. The knife I held to her neck never wavered when she handed me her loaded berretta. I saw her frightened reflection in my blade, and I felt no pity.  
  
I turned around and tossed the gun to William. It went into his hands, but as soon as it did, his body crumpled to the ground harshly. Swearing, I took the blade away from Sarah's throat, and crouched down beside my brother.  
  
"Aw, shit. Mike, this really hurts. That fucking tiger came out of nowhere, man! I'm going to die, I know it," William bellowed. I looked down at his beat red face. He looked like he was slugged in the head several times, and then had the boogeyman scratch his stomach to hell.  
  
"You're not going to die. I have an entire case filled with the anti-virus back at the helipad. Kelly is there with Richard right now, standing by it. Just get up and move. We'll be there in five minutes. Just stay with m-" I was cut off from my speech with William. Sarah yanked the knife from my grip, making my hand jolt back when the blade cut into my skin.  
  
She put the knife to my neck and whispered so only I could hear, "I'll slice your throat right now, and I'll make sure your brother doesn't get the anti-virus. The bitch Kelly can die, too. So don't fuck with me."  
  
I smiled my demonic smile once, "You surely aren't serious. You will die if you don't have me with you. You don't know how to get out of here, without going into another level. I know how which of those doors behind you leads out of here. All you need to do is drop the knife, and I'll lead you out of here."  
  
Sweat ran down both of our heads, as she pondered what I had said. After a minute, another voice ran out. "How about this, Sarah? You drop the knife, we lead you to safety, or you don't drop the knife in five seconds, and I shoot you in that pretty teenage face," came the never-soothing voice of William Birkin.  
  
Sarah looked over at him, and he held her Berretta to her sweating head. The knife began to shake in her grasp. William began counting backwards from five, "Five, four, three, two-" and the knife dropped.  
  
Fell to her knees and sobbed in her hands. "I wanna go home!" she chanted. Sticky fluids leaked from her mouth and nose. Tears slid down her face, blending in with the sweat. I walked over to her and patted her head. I didn't feel sorry. I felt glad. "Cry now, bitch. In a few minutes you'll be screaming," I whispered to her in a kind voice.  
  
She looked up at me with pity in her teary eyes. "Don't look at me," I ordered, as I yanked her to her feet by her long, thick hair. She let out a squeaking noise as I pulled her upward. Some of her hair came out as I pulled, and it stuck to my bloody hands.  
  
We were all on our feet in a few moments, and we were ready to leave the small room with the doors. William threw his arm around my shoulders, and I helped him walk to The Child of the East. This was the only thing on the island I didn't design. William designed The Game of Four. That was why he insisted on being among the first to play it.  
  
That redhead would have left this island if I hadn't stopped her back at the helipad. "I guess your game works," I said to my brother as we arrived to the large door leading to the escape hall. William's infection will get the better of him if he's in this condition much longer.  
  
"Open the door," I said to Sarah. She walked over to the large door on the far right, labeled The City. Before she could open the large door, I hobbled over to her while William held onto me tightly. I kicked her in her back as hard as I could manage. She shifted in pain, and her face smashed into hard closed door. Her grip stripped from the handle. I laughed out loud. She was my toy.  
  
"This door," I said, pointing to The Desert. She nodded and made her awkward little steps to the door. As soon as she was a foot from the door, I grabbed the back of her head and easily slammed her face into the door of The Desert. I broke out laughing again. She fell to the ground with a thud, and looked up at me with a look that made me hear her lovely voice say, "Please don't do this." I mocked that look and her tears that came in seconds. Her left eye was swelling, her nose was leaking bright red blood, and her hair was a messy wreck.  
  
William looked up into my laughing eyes and said, "Come on, bro. You've had your fun, now can we please get out of here?" I nodded and turned to Sarah, who was trying to get up. I kicked her painfully hard in the stomach. I heard the odd breathing sound, which seemed like all the air in her stomach was being forced out of her by my kick.  
  
"Stop it, man. You're gunna kill the damn chick. You're getting like me, and it's disgusting," William said into my ear. I nodded and scampered off to the large door.  
  
"Where did you come up with the name?" I asked William about the name Child of the East. He shrugged gently. I called Sarah over and told her to open the door. She seemed suspicious that it was the wrong one again, and she cautiously opened it. Lifting it like a garage door, it revealed a hallway Sarah and I haven't walked down yet. William left my shoulder and began to hobble on his own.  
  
The hallway was filled with my baby pictures, around the house pictures, as a teen photos, and even some shots in the lab I was in with William, his wife, and daughter constructing the G-Virus. The photographs hung in frames along the walls. The hall had a red carpet going down to the end, purple wallpaper, and candles hanging down from the ceiling, kind of like in Medieval Times.  
  
William began leaving a trail of blood everywhere he walked. We pressed on, and halfway down the hallway, Sarah saw something of interest. Instead of having a picture on the wall, there was a flat screen TV displaying a disturbing black and white image.  
  
Sarah, who was a few steps ahead up William and I. She stared at the television, and her features (not as if they weren't already messed up) flushed. I stepped beside her, and threw my arm around her shoulders. She didn't seem to notice, but since her body was completely sore, she winced painfully.  
  
"There's my girlfriend with your little boyfriend," I whispered soothingly into her ear. The black and white TV showed the images of Kelly standing over Richard. Her hand held a shining silver handgun. Richard's face looked bloody and bruised on the screen. Kelly was puffing a cigarette calmly. What a doll!  
  
"Hey Will, check this out," I shouted to William who just walked passed us, and didn't notice we stopped to watch my girlfriend hunch over the beat-up Richard. I glanced over to William, and witnessed a few things I didn't see before about him. His left leg wasn't moving, but he pressed on at ease. The blood he once spewed was purplish, and made the floor glow.  
  
I walked over to him slowly. My steps rang loudly in the hall. I didn't worry about Sarah, who was unguarded behind me. My nervousness grew about my brother. I reached out slowly and touched his shoulder. It felt cold and dead, and he stopped in his tracks. I stopped, too, as he began to turn and face me.  
  
His eyes had a shield of white around them. He had lumps of green on his face. He reached out for my hand, and I almost let him grasp my hand, but I found myself backing up slowly. "Will?" I chanted. I stumbled over my feet, and fell hardly on my back. Fear sank in, and I reached for my gun, but I didn't have it.  
  
I looked up at William, and tucked in his waist was my Magnum, with a few bullets still loaded in. William advanced toward me, and I then saw the look in his face. He wanted to kill me, then feast on my corpse. That thought ran through my mind, and I saw my dead body with flies all around it. My brothers teeth would sink into my neck, and I wouldn't be able to scream and..  
  
The viral infected form of my brother made a hissing sound, then crouched down beside. I moved quickly in fear. My hand slid towards him and yanked the gun from his wrist. I rolled away, so close to his teeth, that I felt drool on my hands.  
  
I lifted the gun up, and tried to aim. It took me a few valuable seconds to get a clean shot of his head. But my fingers wouldn't allow me to pull the trigger on him; on my brother. He was within inches of my face when he sprung. I felt him scratch my cheek, and I felt him move into my neck for the kill. I was my own damn brother's prey.  
  
My gun flew from my hands, and that moment froze in my mind, replaying itself for as long as I lived. My brother's cold skin, so pale it was blue, rubbing against my own. My cheek throbbed in a pain I didn't even feel. "Willy? What are you doing," I stammered out loud, although, I knew what he was doing. I also knew that he wasn't William, but I asked anyway, knowing he wouldn't respond.  
  
His mouth opened and his lips pressed against my lips. Before his teeth sank into my neck, spewing gruesome blood and gore everywhere, my ears rattled as a loud bang ran out through the hall. The bang was that of a gun. I felt the bullet whiz by my face for a half second, and I also felt my brother fly from my body, sending blood onto my face, the walls, the floor, and even the shocked Sarah.  
  
That shocked Sarah had her old gun in her hands. I tore my gaze from her. My eyes looked down at my chest area. My shirt was covered in blood, but I didn't know if it was mine.  
  
William had a circular red hole in his neck, gushing with the same red matter. The many scratch marks on his chest seemed to glisten in the dimly lit room. His closed eyes gave me queasy feeling. I got up and walked to my brother. I stood beside him as Sarah stepped forward. "Don't be stupid Michael," she whispered to me.  
  
"Stupid? You just fuckin' killed my brother! I hate you!" I shouted back. She shot him. We could have saved him. I knew that wasn't true, but it made my hate for her and the Resistance grow even stronger.  
  
As if my words turned him on, William's hands grasped my leg tightly. I jumped back, and tripped. His mouth open, and I felt his teeth sink into my ankle. I shrieked loudly. I kicked his head from my ankle and shouted out in pain. Sarah lifted her gun to William, and made my fear grow even higher.  
  
"No! Don't hurt him," I screamed. She didn't listen.  
  
Two shots fired into his head, sending pieces of it up at me. In that second, I realized he died, and now I need to get out of here. I don't ever want to return to this island. Ever.  
  
My thoughts came rushing back, and my hatred toward Sarah came back at full force. "You fucking bit-" I shouted, just before I was cut off.  
  
"Shut up. You shut the fuck up! Take me to the helipad now, and if you try to pull anything, I'll kill you." My eyes shifted from her, to my brother. I nodded stupidly, not knowing what else to do.  
  
I thought, "When we get to the chopper, Kelly, oh wonderful Kelly, will shoot her off the helipad. She will be pleased William perished. I don't care, as long as I'm with her."  
  
My thoughts broke into pieces when Sarah poked the gun into my back and whispered the one word that summed up a sentence into my ear, "Move!"  
  
I walked forward, not glancing down at my brother once. The gun occasionally jabbed into my back and kidneys, just making me imagine her death more clearly. Her dying, seeing Kelly again, and leaving this island are the only things I plan to do in the next twenty minutes. "God, they will be joyous occurrences." I thought plainly.  
  
Just then I noticed I mentioned God. I never was religious, neither was William. But just then, something happened. I remembered a strange, random quote from the Bible. I remembered reading someone (I didn't know who it was at the time) say words I thought of at that very moment: 'Behold, I send you out as sheep amongst the wolves.'  
  
The reason that quote came to me was mysterious; even as we walked through the door to the end of the hall we spent what felt like an eternity in. We exited the hall, and stepped into the brightly lit room filled from top to bottom with books.  
  
We walked through the rows cautiously. Sarah stopped jabbing me with the Berretta, and her eyes darted around. I wasn't as spooked as her, I felt confident now. I knew she would suffer for the unwise actions she displayed tonight.  
  
The room was silent, except for our light footsteps and breathing. Sarah's breathing was unsteady, but mine was fine. I seemed to relax. I hardly heard the growling noise up ahead. I hardly noticed the falling of books. The books that fell seemed to drop behind the large row of books we walked down now.  
  
I wasn't worried the slightest. I'm untouchable. (Except for the little scratch across my cheek.) We took a few more paces forward until a hound without skin or any senses dived through the shelf of books, just a mere few feet from us. It was quite a sight.  
  
I dove backwards, staying low to the ground. I did this just as Sarah dove over top of me, firing two shots into the beast. The dog squealed loudly, and fell onto his side violently. Sarah crashed to the ground painfully, but was on her feet in seconds. I began to stand, taking my time.  
  
"One bullet left," she said, more to herself than me. I didn't know how to respond, but I broke the moment of silence by walking to the supposedly dead dog. I lifted my leg into the air and stomped down. Its head split into pieces, covering the ground in gore.  
  
"Well? Are you coming?" I asked. Although I didn't have a weapon, I somehow felt in control of the situation. After all, I knew what has been following us. I knew what was in the hall we just got out of, stalking us as if we were the rabbits being pursued by a vicious dog.  
  
We began walking through the final two rows of books. I arrived to the great door first. The door led to the helipad, which led to home. I stopped at the door and turned to Sarah. "Behold, I send you out as sheep amongst the wolves," I whispered to her.  
  
She smiled, and I thought she would comment on the comment, but she said, "Cute. Open the fucking door."  
  
I turned the brass knob, and pushed the door forward. The starry sky lightened the helipad brightly. The smell of the night air filled my nostrils with glee. Kelly stood yards away from me, with a gun to the beat up Richard's head.  
  
"Mike!" he called, "Kelly's gone crazy! She's going to kill us." Sarah walked me through the door by thrusting her gun in my back once more. I spit blood onto the concrete ground. "Michael darling! How was the game?" Kelly cried.  
  
"William's dead, and I am weaponless. Sarah has the unwise intentions of killing you and I, then taking off with that faggot, Richard, over there."  
  
"Ha!" Kelly bellowed. Her beautiful face looked nervous and worried. "Sarah, honey, if you don't let Michael go on the count of three, I'll blow your little friends head off. Richard pleaded and pleaded to be let go, but we would kill him.  
  
Sarah retorted, "You so much as hit him again, and Michaels face here will be on the ground. Nothing will be left of his face besides his teeth." This all was rather amusing to me, even though I was being threatened with death. The helicopter on the far side of the helipad gleamed in the moonlight. I decided to add a final word to this conversation.  
  
"Ah! Now Sarah. I bet you have a dilemma you haven't noticed yet, hm?" she looked confused, so I continued, "You only have one bullet left. If you shoot me, you'll be empty, and my sweet Kelly will kill you. She will be the only one left, unless you plan to shoot her, which I don't think you'll do, for you would have me break your neck. Damn, this is fun!"  
  
Kelly laughed, but by the look on Sarah's face, she knew I was right. Kelly began counting, "One, two, two and a half, and three!" But before either of the women could fire any shoots, the door Sarah and I just came through burst open. It flew off the hinges fiercely. The beastly creature stepped out of the doorway, and onto the hard ground of the helipad once again.  
  
All the fear I had for that thing that has been stalking us all night came back. Sarah's face was even paler than before when she looked over at the tyrant. It roared loudly, and the creature lifted its misshaped hand high above his head. Sarah letting her guard down was all I needed to get to Kelly. We would leave the island together.  
  
Kelly, knowing why I was coming towards her, smashed her gun onto Richard's skull. His face hit the ground painfully, but his vision and impulses went black before he even hit the ground. He was a sitting duck to the tyrant.  
  
Sarah was closest to the beast, and she was basically unarmed. I chuckled and said to Kelly, "Dumb bitch is finally going to get what she deserves." She smiled and took off running toward the chopper. We ran side-by-side to the helicopter. This was the longest night of my life, but it wasn't over yet. 


	13. Battle for Salvation

Chapter Thirteen: Battle for Salvation  
  
Kelly and I were mere feet from what would bring us home. The silver helicopter had a red and white Umbrella sign on the side. Kelly went through a week of helicopter training, and she can safely bring us to our Costa Rican base, just miles away. Our fingertips brushed across each other, as we entered the helicopter.  
  
I looked at my lover and said, "Take off, now." She nodded blankly, and reached for the controls. She fiddled with them, but my head turned, and my gaze turned to Sarah. The tyrant seemed to ignore Richard, supposing he was dead. God, if only the T-Virus gave them some damn sense.  
  
Sarah dodged the thing, as he darted toward her with his deranged hand. It almost got her, if she hadn't been so quick with her feet. I remembered putting a rocket launcher in the back of this helicopter, just in case.  
  
I realized now I wouldn't need it, and if I did need it, I wouldn't now shit about how to fire it. Rocket launchers, bazookas, grenade missiles. I just don't understand those big things! Maybe that's why the best gun I ever used tonight remains the Uzi 2.5.  
  
Kelly was so busy messing with dials and controls; she didn't hear me say, "Why the hell hasn't that redhead used her last bullet?"  
  
Sarah shuffled back and forth, side to side, confusing the massive beast. I was slightly impressed by her rhythmic actions. Yet, I wish her death were slow and painful. I decided to look up on any relatives Sarah Mick might have after this. Only so I can kill them myself.  
  
Sarah ran over to Richard, and I notice he came to. He was slowly beginning to stand, staggering all over. The massive beast's eyeball darted around, as he slowly began to advance on the two of them. Sarah screamed something I didn't catch, for the large blades of the helicopter began to whirl around loudly.  
  
My lips curled into a smile, as the chopper slowly rose from the ground. We hovered ten feet up, and Kelly guided the helicopter into a circle around the roof, just to prove to the two survivors that they are going to die on this clever island because we were stealing their only getaway.  
  
The next few seconds slowed to a halt. Everything happened so fast, and I didn't know what to do.  
  
I loud boom signaled to me that Sarah used her last bullet. The windshield of the chopper burst open, leaving only a small portion of the window to not shatter and fall off. Time stopped as I stared blankly at my girlfriend's once beautiful face. The back of her head slammed against the back of the seat violently.  
  
A single bullet penetrated her skull and planted itself in her brain. The amazing force of the small, lead bullet caused her forehead area to burst open, and spew mushy flesh, hard skull, and warm blood all over me and what was left of the windshield.  
  
She was dead. She was really fucking dead. My head split with pain. So many emotions, thoughts, realizations, and even memories came to me. One realization was what Sarah had shouted just before we took off. She shouted, "If we don't leave, you don't leave." The only other thing I thought of at the time was to save myself.  
  
Kelly's body slid to the padded floor of the helicopter. I tried my best to ignore it, and grabbed the two handles like I saw Kelly and Sarah do. I pushed downward gently. It moved slowly toward the helipad, and I was only four feet from the ground when things began out of control.  
  
Just before I grabbed the handles a few moments ago, I noticed a good deal of Kelly's dark red blood on the metallic sticks. I grabbed them anyway, and after a few seconds of easy landing, my hands slip on the blood. Before I even knew what was happening, I said aloud, "Oh God, oh God!" It was all I could manage to blurt out in the chaotic confusion.  
  
My head burned like hell, just as I struggled to regain control with the handles. I pulled back, and I knew it wouldn't work. The blades were mere inches from the ground. I tilted back slightly, but I felt the bottom of the helicopter touch the ground. Just as I was situated on the helipad, I knew I was dead, along with Sarah and Richard; Kelly, I guess, came with us.  
  
I wish I never came here. It was fun at first, but I lost my brother and my girlfriend. I wanted to marry her; she was my soul mate.  
  
My thoughts broke into pieces by Sarah. I didn't notice she was next to me, but I did notice (and felt) her painful punch to my jaw. I was taken aback as I was thrown from the chopper. I didn't stop her. I had no reason too. My hands were covered in Kelly's blood, and a part of me shut down. I was dead. Maybe not physically, but everything else was dead.  
  
The cement my hands hit was riddle with her blood. Confusion spread over my body like an oncoming storm. When was the beastly tyrant going to jab his mutated arm into my soft flesh and spew my red blood into my eyes, blinding me painfully before I die.  
  
When the pain didn't immediately hit me, I knew what I must do before I die. I will kill Sarah. "Screw that trench coat wearing fag, this is me and Sarah," I said to myself. I pushed myself to my feet. The large monster at the other end of the helipad screamed viciously, making my blood freeze.  
  
Kelly was all I thought about. The beast of a creature ran toward me. Its steps thump hardly against the ground. Its right arm rose in front ready to kill. I began to hear the helicopter hover above me.  
  
As quickly as I could manage, I jumped through the giant legs of the monster. I just missed its arm and flailing tentacles. I felt the air of the tyrants amazing swipe of fury toward my diving body.  
  
I rolled on the ground, the perfect dodge. The monster screamed angrily. Through the beast's screams of rage, the helicopters blades, and my loud breathing, I just about heard what Sarah screamed out the window of the chopper.  
  
"Behold, I send you out as sheep amongst the wolves. Goodbye Michael Birkin!" she hollered from above. For the first time that night, I realized I was beat. They won. Game over, but I won't ever stop fighting. Not until she was dead.  
  
Before I could utter a scream, the tyrant had me in his grip. He squeezed my neck and lifted me from the safety of the ground. My neck cracked painfully, but I knew it wasn't broken. The tyrant tossed me like a rag doll into the air. I flew up high enough to be almost even with Sarah. I looked at her face, and I saw her crying.  
  
I landed back onto the ground harshly. A jolt of pain traveled to my mind. I screamed loudly and shrilly to Sarah, "Enjoy watching me die, just as I would have for you!"  
  
I didn't hear Richard scream, "Take this," but I knew what he said when a large black case hit the ground. The pain was still there, but I ignored it and brushed the most of it off. I darted past the tyrant, making him howl his hungry howl.  
  
The case was on the edge of the cliff, just a wrong tap, and it would fall all the way down. into the water.  
  
My hands found the latches on the case, and I flicked them both up quickly. I opened the heavy case and knew what I would find. The amazingly large gun gleamed with the light of the stars and moon. I began to reach for it when I felt the tyrants grip circle around my neck, tighter than before. I looked at the tyrants face. It was pure evil. Nothing like that should be on this planet. Yet, I designed him.  
  
My eyes darted to the case with the rocket launcher in it, but I wasn't surprised to see that it had fallen off the cliff. My only chance at survival was blown.  
  
I didn't even care when t threw me so high into the air, and I knew the landing would break all the bones in my legs.  
  
My hands flailed around madly, and I noticed what was happening. I was feet away from the deadly helicopter blades. They would chop me into pieces, sending my body parts everywhere along the helipad.  
  
I was stunned when I closed my eyes, and all I didn't feel the killing pain of the helicopter blades or the ground. But that wasn't what stunned me. It was the warm hand of Richard that grabbed my wrist. Why? Why were they saving me?  
  
"Get up!" he screamed. His head was covered in blood and bruises from when Sarah beat him nearly to death. How could he be so strong and forgiving? I wouldn't let them beat me. I wouldn't let them have the privilege of saving me.  
  
"Drop me, you fucker! Drop me!" I screamed.  
  
Richard looked sympathetic as he shouted back, "You didn't drop me earlier tonight, and I'd die before I let you fall!" He yanked me aboard the helicopter roughly. Just before I was in, over a million thoughts came to my mind at once. The night didn't end the way I wanted, but so be it. I'll kill them.  
  
When the thought of killing them both crossed my mind, I remembered the knife in my pocket. The blade had been through so much tonight, but it only had to do one more job. I'll jam it into both their throats until they die. God it will be lovely.  
  
I looked over, and my girlfriend's dead body was still swimming in blood near the pilot's chair. Her cold eyes gleamed at me happily. She looked cheerful in death. I smiled at her, ignoring the fact she would never know I was smiling.  
  
I looked at Richard, who was panting and clutching his sides. He coughed loudly and looked at me. He screamed over the loud helicopter blades, "I fucking hate you, you god damn traitor. You saved my life earlier. I was hanging off a building, and you saved me. why?"  
  
For the first time in a while I smiled. I big toothy grin covered my face as I hollered back to Richard, "Because I needed your help getting off this island. I needed all the help I could get. I planned to kill you, and it is still on my to-do list."  
  
I didn't want to see Richard cry into his hands, I didn't want to see Sarah jump from her pilot seat to throw me over, and I most of all didn't want to see all of us die.  
  
Richard balled to himself, tears trickling down his cheeks. Snot ran from his nose in green sticky forms of liquid. Richard began cursing to himself and smacking his face with his bloody hands. "Stop it, you crying pussy," he stammered to himself. This was the worst, and best night of my life. Such evil Resistance members had their lives stripped from them painfully, but I also had mine taken from me. I won't allow them.  
  
Before I could understand anything, a foot collided into my face, sending tingling feelings of obvious pain throughout my body. Just before I lost my balance and fell from the soaring helicopter, I saw manic face of Sarah Mick. She must have hated me as much as I hated her. My face was bloody, bruised, and smashed.  
  
How could this have happened? I felt my body be airborne for a quick second, but my hands tightened onto the metal rods sticking from the bottom of the gleaming helicopter. My knuckles split into a bloody pulp just then. Pain covered my body, squeezing me to death.  
  
I knew the chopper was out of control when it spun in circles. Sarah was so foolish for leaving the gears unattained.  
  
My grip loosened when the slippery blood from my knuckles covered my entire hand. I became overcome with a dizzy sensation. The helicopter jolted back and forth violently, sending Richard to plummet beside me.  
  
He grabbed onto the same metal rod as I, but his hand didn't split into a bloody mess. His grip immediately loosened, and he fell to the ground with a hard thud, but he had enough sense to grab my ankle during his fall.  
  
I cracked my head hardly against the concrete, most likely causing a minor concussion. I didn't have time to think about the tyrant, the poor flown helicopter, my dead lover and brother, or even the pain I felt. All I could think was of my will to live, which I didn't even know if I had one.  
  
It seemed I needed to live, something deathly important was to happen soon. I glanced up at the helicopter, which was slightly beginning to regain its original control. I hardly noticed the tyrant at the other end of the helipad that was screaming murderously. It began its run toward Richard and I.  
  
Richard was on the ground, spread like an eagle. His black hair was matted to his head with blood. He was hopefully dead. Just as the tyrant was a few meters from me, I remembered the knife in my pocket. I reached in and grabbed it. The blade sparkled in the starlight.  
  
I ran from the giant beast, begging to God he would stop and munch on Richard for a while, giving me enough time to plan something with satisfaction. The monster didn't stop at Richard. The large eyeball coming from his shoulder focused right on me. I was his prey. My creation would kill me; the creator.  
  
Without any thought or warning, I tossed the knife quickly at the large eye the beast seemed to be carrying, although it was connected to him by a flab of red skin I designed. It mutated quite often.  
  
The knife implanted itself just below the oversized pupil, sending purple and white liquid everywhere. Only feet away, the monster swung its abnormal arm at me. The palm of it smashed my head painfully, but the claw never sunk into my face, head, or neck.  
  
The creature stumbled towards me, and just when he was in killing distance, the unthinkable happened. I tripped on my shoelaces. I fell onto my ass (which was also bruised), and I became a sitting duck.  
  
Just before my life flashed before my eyes brightly, I realized the helicopter blades were getting louder. My hair blew everywhere wildly. It was getting closer- it meaning the helicopter and also the tyrant. It felt like the blades were inches away, which they were.  
  
I instinctively threw my head back, and watched the helicopter fly a foot above me, at an odd angle. The blades were pointing down, so if anything happened to be in their path, it would be sliced to pieces.  
  
The tyrant struggled to avoid the blade, but its staggering walk was too slow. Its arms flew from its shoulders, along with every chunk of body on it. Blood covered me grossly; it even covered the helicopter and Richard. The next minute whirled by me like a tornado.  
  
Richard wasn't dead, as I soon found out. he was very much alive. I darted towards him when I figured out what happened. Sarah killed the tyrant with the sharp chopper blades, and she was picking up Richard. They were going to leave me here.  
  
Richard was on his feet, his right side covered in gore. He dove from the ground, but never made it to the inside of the helicopter, which was losing fuel. As he was in the air, I tackled him to the ground. He winced with pain as he rolled on the ground.  
  
We both were ready to throw and receive blows, but I knew now he would be dead at my hands. This was a gift from Kelly. She was letting Sarah escape, but she was at least giving me this bastard to kill. I still had an ounce of hope left, but it would soon was away in a sea of frustration.  
  
I punched Richard with my bloody hand with all my might. My whole body dripped with blood from the dead tyrant beast. I heard his jaw crack against my powerful blow. He brushed off his pain and jumped onto me like a football player. He punched me back and forth, first his right hand smashed my face, then his left, then back to his right.  
  
Before he killed me, I kneed him hard in his crotch area. He moaned in pain and fell from my, grasping his area concernedly. I stood up quickly and kicked him in his face. He forgot about his balls, and focused in on the throbbing pain he just received from my foot.  
  
I wrapped my arm around his neck and squeezed. His arms flailed about hysterically. He tried punching me, but I felt no pain. After about thirty seconds, his arms fell to his sides limply. His heart stopped beating, and his eyes shut forever. I kicked the ribs of his dead body, smiling as I heard them break.  
  
I still had a chance to jump aboard the chopper, but it flew off. Sarah cried all the way to her salvation. My salvation was gone. I didn't have a chance, but I knew that all along.  
  
The End 


End file.
